Woods Wins in Thailand With Record Performance

When Tiger Woods is on his game, challengers know they have little chance to compete unless they play their best. Sometimes, even that is not enough.

“He’s the best, he’s the king,” Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy said Sunday, after Woods shot his third consecutive seven-under-par 65 for a 25-under 263 total and a three-stroke victory in the Johnnie Walker Classic at Bangkok, Thailand.

Woods’ winning score was the lowest four-round total of his career in relation to par and a record for the tournament, beating the 268 of South Africa’s Ian Palmer in 1992. But it wasn’t Woods’ lowest total score--he shot a 21-under 259 at the par-70 Firestone Country Club in the NEC Invitational this year.

It was the 10th title of the year for Woods, who earned $190,798 and had the satisfaction of being back in his usual top spot after a disappointing fifth-place tie in the American Express Championship last week.

The victory meant Woods maintained his unbeaten record as a professional in Thailand. He first won the Johnnie Walker Classic in 1998 on Thailand’s Phuket Island, and in 1997 he claimed the Asian Honda Classic in Bangkok.

“It’s special any time I can come back to my Mom’s country and win,” Woods said. “I had a lot of family and friends out there.”

Ogilvy shot a final-round 64 for 266 and was runner-up for the second consecutive year. He had eight birdies and barely missed on two eagle opportunities.

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Doubled over in pain from an upset stomach, Dottie Pepper had enough strength left to jubilantly raise both arms and celebrate her first victory of 2000 in the season-ending Arch Wireless Championship at Daytona Beach, Fla.

Pepper closed with a one-under 71 and won her duel with third-round leader Annika Sorenstam, cruising home to a three-stroke victory over Rachel Hetherington.

“I had nothing left,” Pepper said. “That was as hard-fought a day as you can have to get something you really want.”

Tied with Sorenstam going into the back nine, Pepper bent over and grabbed her stomach on the 11th green, wincing in pain. Then she rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt that gave her the lead for good.

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Scott McCarron and Brad Faxon birdied the first hole of a playoff with Carlos Franco and Scott Hoch to win the Franklin Templeton Shootout at Miami.

McCarron and Faxon, who each earned $200,000, shot a 12-under 60 in the final-round scramble for a 26-under 190 total on the Greg Norman-designed Great White Course at Doral.

McCarron and Faxon birdied six of the last seven holes, with Faxon holing a 25-foot birdie putt on No. 17 to tie the team for the lead at 25 under. Both teams birdied the par-five 18th hole to set up the playoff.

Miscellany

An Italian soccer player reportedly was in a coma after he was punched by an opposing player outside the locker room 30 minutes after a game.

Francesco Bertolotti, a 33-year-old midfielder for Modena of Serie C, was knocked unconscious by a single uppercut from Como captain Massimiliano Ferrigno, the Italian news agency ANSA said.

Lazio’s Argentine midfielder Juan Veron will be sidelined for a month after injuring his leg while playing for Argentina against Chile in a World Cup qualifier last week. Veron probably will miss Argentina’s game against Mexico at the Coliseum on Dec. 20.

Robby Gordon, a former open-wheel driving star and part-owner of his own Winston Cup team for two years, will drive strictly for the Abingdon, Va.-based Morgan-McClure Racing team directed by Larry McClure.

Heinz Schilchegger came from behind to defeat Austrian teammate and first-run leader Mario Matt in the World Cup slalom at Park City, Utah. . . . Italy swept the giant slalom at the snowboarding World Cup at Tignes, France, with Walter Feichter and Carmen Ranigler winning the men’s and women’s divisions. . . . James Blake defeated Cecil Mamiit, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, to win the Acura USTA Pro Tennis Classic at Rancho Mirage.