Woods Knows Great Endings

In the last pro golf event of the year, Tiger Woods proved himself to be a man for all seasons, official and otherwise.

Woods was hot when it was cold, he was hot when it was hot and Sunday he was so hot that when he won his own tournament and picked up the $1-million first prize, he should have been wearing oven mitts. Woods, who won $5.6 million in 19 PGA Tour events this year, picked up $1 million with a rousing seven-under 64 and a three-shot victory over Vijay Singh in the Williams World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club.

Woods began the fourth round four shots behind Singh and was still trailing by three after nine holes, but then reeled off five consecutive birdies and took over.

Woods said it was probably his most consistent stretch of well-played holes since he won the Memorial the first week of June..

“It’s nice to win,” Woods said.

And when you play the way Woods did Sunday, a victory isn’t far out of sight. Woods had 10 birdies, two bogeys, shot a 30 on the back nine and needed only 23 putts. His 68-67-74-64--273 was 15 under par.

Two holes turned the day around. At the par-four ninth, Woods made a 45-foot putt for bogey after a poor drive but remained four shots behind because Singh also made a bogey. Then at the 13th, after Woods caught up, his second shot was on the side of a hill in deep rough. Woods punched out to about three feet and made the putt for a birdie.

When Singh made bogey, Woods’ lead was two shots. Singh, who shot a 71, said Woods was too good for too long a time.

“Tiger had a great run,” Singh said. “He birdied five in a row and it totally turned things around.”

Singh earned $500,000 for his runner-up finish and Scott Hoch, who shot a 67, won $300,000 for third. Mark Calcavecchia, who was 11-over and finished last, 26 shots behind Woods, banked $130,000.

The Williams is not a regular PGA Tour event. It’s part of the so-called “silly season,” so the money isn’t official, but chances are that’s not going to make much difference in the bank account of Eldrick T. Woods, Windermere, Fla.

In the last month, Woods played three off-season events and won a combined $1.4 million--$400,000 for his victory at the PGA Grand Slam, nothing at the Skins Game, and now his biggest off-season payday of all, $1 million at the Williams. In fact, if you add up Woods’ worldwide money total this year, he finished at $7.77 million, which is staggering, but it doesn’t even take into account two other important revenue streams. Woods made an estimated $4 million in appearance fees for playing European Tour events at Dubai and the Deutsche Bank Open, and an estimated $54 million in endorsement income.

Add it up and you’ve got just slightly less than $66 million. Woods isn’t only the player of the year, he’s also the financier of the year. In 2002, he may get his own listing on the Dow Jones.

Woods said afterward that he’s donating his $1-million check to the Tiger Woods Foundation.

Now that 2001 is done, Woods stands way above the rest. It resembled the two years before it. In the last three years, no one has won more tournaments, more majors, more money or shot lower than Woods.

“From a golf standpoint, I know I played well. I won some big tournaments, defended some others,” Woods said. “Overall, I think I played and had a very solid season. Everyone wants to compare it to what I did last year and that’s understandable.”

Woods said he’d vote for himself for PGA Tour player of the year.

“You have to,” he said.

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Woods said he might not play the Nissan Open in February. “It’s iffy right now,” Woods said.

If Woods doesn’t play Riviera, it would be the first time he has missed it since he turned pro. The problem is his schedule, said Woods, who is already planning on playing Pebble Beach with amateur partner Jerry Chang, at Torrey Pines and at La Costa for the World Match Play. Riviera follows Torrey Pines and would mean four tournaments in a row for Woods.