Key Putt Gives Woods Fifth Victory of Year

L.A. Times Archives

Aug. 22, 2005 12 AM PT

From Associated Press

The World Golf Championships were created seven years ago to bring together the best players from around the world. Tiger Woods has turned them into an annuity.

Woods overcame some shaky putting Sunday by making the one that mattered, an 18-foot birdie putt that broke sharply into the right side of the cup on the 16th hole at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, sending him to a one-shot victory over Chris DiMarco in the NEC Invitational.

“I’ve had that putt for three or four years, and I miss it low every time,” Woods said. “I made sure I threw the ball out there a little bit more ... and it just snapped at the end. I thought it was going to lip out, which was how my whole day was going. But it lipped in, which was sweet.”

The victory, which gave him seven years in a row with at least one WGC title, wasn’t secure until Woods punched a nine-iron through the trees and onto the 18th green for a two-putt par to close with a one-over 71.

Woods has won nine of the 18 World Golf Championships he has played, and he has earned about $11.6 million alone from these tournaments, more than 20% of his career earnings.

Woods finished at six-under 274 and earned $1.3 million for his fifth victory of the year, one more than Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson.

DiMarco, who lost to Woods in a playoff at the Masters, shot a 68 to finish at 275. Paul McGinley, one of four players who had at least a share of the lead, fell out of contention with a bogey on the 17th and shot 72 to tie for third with Singh (67) and Ryan Palmer (69).

Woods has 45 victories in his career, moving past Walter Hagen into seventh on the all-time list.

Vaughn Taylor shot an even-par 72 to survive a late charge by Jonathan Kaye and win his second consecutive Reno-Tahoe Open by three strokes with a tournament-record 21-under par.

Taylor, in his second year on the PGA Tour, becomes the only player besides Vijay Singh to successfully defend a title this year and only the fifth wire-to-wire winner of the season, shooting 64-67-64 the first three rounds.

His total of 267 erased the old mark of 17-under 271 that Kirk Triplett set in winning in 2003.

Kaye shot 67 -- his fourth round in the 60s -- but missed three birdie putts from within 15 feet on the last three holes to finish at 18-under at the 7,472-yard Montreux Golf and Country Club.

Todd Fischer, who lives next to the course, had a 70 to claim third place at 17 under.

South Korea’s Soo-Yun Kang won for the first time on the LPGA Tour, shooting a three-under 69 for a four-stroke victory in the Safeway Classic at Portland, Ore.

Kang, who led by three strokes after the first two rounds, finished with a 15-under 201 in brilliant sunny conditions at Columbia Edgewater Country Club.

Women’s British Open winner Jeong Jang shot a 70 to finish second, and Gloria Park was five strokes back after a 71.

Because of scheduling conflicts, Annika Sorenstam wasn’t among those playing at Columbia Edgewater. She won the 2002 and 2003 tournaments.

Former PGA Tour and USGA administrator David Eger won his second Champions Tour title, shooting a final-round 67 in the inaugural Boeing Greater Seattle Classic at Snoqualmie, Wash.

Eger finished at 17-under 199 for the 54-hole tournament at the TPC of Snoqualmie Ridge, taking a $240,000 paycheck from the $1.6-million purse. He was three strokes ahead of runner-up Tom Kite, whose final-round 68 put him at 14 under.

Eger is a three-time Walker Cup member and two-time U.S. Amateur semifinalist. His only other previous Champions Tour victory came in another first-time event -- the 2003 MasterCard Classic in Mexico City.

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