Tiger opens season with playoff victory
A new decade for Tiger Woods looks a lot like the last one – making clutch putts, letting his opponents break down and hoisting the trophy at a golf course that feels as if it’s home.
Woods holed an 8-foot birdie on the 18th hole Sunday to get into a three-way playoff, then won the Buick Invitational in San Diego with simple pars as Australian rookie Nathan Green and two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal made crucial mistakes.
Olazabal played a splendid bunker shot on the par-3 16th on the second extra hole at Torrey Pines, then missed a 4-foot par putt to hand Woods a victory that was only easy at the end.
“It’s not how you want to win,” Woods said. “I had a chance to make birdie on 18 in the playoff and end it right there. You don’t ever take joy out of seeing friends do that.”
For Woods, it was the fourth time in 10 years that he won in his first PGA Tour event of the year, and he became the first four-time winner at the Buick Invitational on a course he played regularly as a kid.
The finish was reminiscent of the American Express Championship last October at Harding Park, where John Daly lost on the second extra hole by missing a 3-foot putt to give Woods the victory.
It was a somber way to end a dynamic afternoon along the bluffs of the Pacific Ocean, where 11 players had a share of the lead at one point and there was an eight-way tie with six holes to play.
Woods, who three-putted three times in his final round of even-par 72, finally made the one that mattered on the final hole of regulation en route to his 47th tour victory.
“Of all the things that happened today, I said, ‘At least you have a chance.’ I shouldn’t have had that opportunity,” Woods said of his birdie on the 72nd hole. “I flipped it around, turned it into a positive situation. It felt good coming off the putter and found its way to the bottom.”
Woods turned 30 at the end of the year and is starting his 10th full season on tour, and this was an ideal place for him to get going. This is the fourth tournament he has won at least four times, the others coming at Augusta National, Firestone and Bay Hill.
Champions Tour
Loren Roberts completed a two-week Hawaiian sweep, holing a 9-foot eagle putt on the final hole for an even-par 72 and a two-stroke victory over Scott Simpson in the Turtle Bay Championship at Kahuku, Hawaii.
The 50-year-old Roberts finished his wire-to-wire win with a 12-under 204 total. Last week, Roberts had a record-setting, one-stroke victory in the season-opening MasterCard Championship on the Big Island.
PGA European Tour
Sweden’s Henrik Stenson birdied three of the last four holes for a 4-under 68 and a three-stroke victory in the Qatar Masters in Doha, Qatar.
Stenson finished the tournament at 15-under 273. England’s Paul Broadhurst shot a 70 to finish second. South Africa’s Darren Fichardt (68) was third at 11 under.
Stenson, who started the day with a one-stroke lead, had two birdies on the front nine at the Doha Golf Club. He bogeyed the 14th hole, then made his final surge en route to his third career PGA European Tour title.
Ernie Els, the 2005 winner, shot a 72 to finish 10 strokes back.