Weir Wins After Woods Can’t Handle His Finish

One of the greatest years in golf didn’t end exactly the way Tiger Woods had planned Sunday in the American Express Championship at Sotogrande, Spain.

Woods needed a birdie on the difficult 17th hole, a green he can reach in two with an eight-iron. But he put his drive into the trees and couldn’t advance it out to the fairway. He then slammed his club into the side of his golf bag.

Mike Weir had yet to play the 17th, a hole that produced four double bogeys and two triple bogeys. A par by Woods would leave him some hope. But his fourth shot landed a foot behind the hole and then spun back toward the front of the green and rolled down the slope into the water.

Woods kicked his bag in the scoring tent, having signed for a double bogey on the 17th and a bogey on the 18th, where he had to make a six-foot putt for his 72, extending his streak to 51 rounds at par or better.

The only consolation was that the American Express is moving to St. Louis next year, so Woods and everyone else won’t have to come back to the Valderrama Golf Club.

“We’re not going to come back ever again,” he said with a smile.

Woods’ spectacular season ended without a perfect 10--the first $10-million man in golf, the first player in 50 years to win at least 10 times on the PGA Tour.

“I played well for most of the day,” Woods said.

But not good enough to catch Weir, who played better than anyone on the weekend and came away with a two-stroke victory.

Weir avoided a problem on the 17th by making a tough par save from behind the green. That allowed him to coast in for a three-under 69 and a two-stroke victory over Lee Westwood. He finished 11-under 277 and earned $1 million.

“It’s a huge win, a world championship,” Weir said. “With the quality of the field, that’s what makes it so special. Any time Tiger plays in the tournament you win, it makes you feel great because he’s far and away the best player in the game right now.”

Woods will have to settle for a year that even Valderrama can’t spoil--nine victories, more than $9 million in earnings, wins in three consecutive majors, the career Grand Slam, and the lowest raw scoring average--68.24--in PGA Tour history.

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Vicente Fernandez birdied the first hole of a sudden-death playoff against Leonard Thompson to win the Chrysler Senior Match Play Challenge at Dorado, Puerto Rico.

The victory was worth $240,000 for Fernandez, who reached the final by defeating Ray Floyd, 4 and 3. Thompson, who earned $120,000, beat Lanny Wadkins, 2 and 1, in the other semifinal.