Woods Is in His Element Again

For three straight holes in a playoff, Tiger Woods could only stand to the side of the green and watch someone else control his fate Sunday at the Bridgestone Invitational.

Given a chance to win, he wasn’t about to waste it.

Woods hit an eight-iron through a driving rain into eight feet on the fourth extra hole, then made the birdie putt to outlast Stewart Cink at Firestone South for his fourth consecutive victory.

It came on the 10th anniversary of his turning pro, and it gave Woods his 52nd career victory to match Byron Nelson for fifth all time.

“Just end this thing now,” Woods said he told himself on the birdie putt at No. 17. “If I make mine, it’s over.”

And it was, but not before a roller-coaster round that capped a strange week.

Woods ended his round Friday by hitting a nine-iron over the green, onto the clubhouse roof and down the other side. He followed that by making four straight bogeys Saturday, his longest such streak in nearly 10 years.

Under darkening clouds in the final round, he went from a two-shot deficit to a three-shot lead in a span of four holes, then lost a three-shot lead over the final three holes to slip into a playoff.

“I was very lucky to even be in the playoff,” said Woods, who shot a two-under-par 68 in the final round for a four-day total of 10-under 270. Cink, the leader after three rounds, shot 69. Jim Furyk’s 68 left him a shot behind.

The final result was familiar, especially at this event. Woods now has won five times at Firestone, the most of any golf course on the PGA Tour. He has won four times each at Augusta National and Torrey Pines.

His latest winning streak required more than a little luck. Woods has won his last four starts, his longest winning streak since he won six in a row at the end of the 1999 season and the beginning of 2000.

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Tournament organizers had the golfers tee off about 90 minutes earlier than scheduled because of the weather forecast for later in the day. So CBS, scheduled to go on the air at 11:30 a.m. PDT, tape-delayed its coverage.

This was particularly noticeable toward the end of the playoff, when CBS edited its coverage in order to get off the air sooner to accommodate its affiliates and their local news shows.

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Times staff writer Larry Stewart contributed to this report.

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Tiger Woods’ playoff win Sunday over Stewart Cink in the WGC Bridgestone Invitational was his fourth straight PGA Tour title, the longest streak since Woods won six in a row from Aug. 29, 1999, to Feb. 6, 2000. The top streaks in Tour history (*Woods won on the fourth playoff hole):

*--* CONSECUTIVE WINS ON PGA TOUR Wins Player Year 11 BYRON NELSON 1945 6 BEN HOGAN 1948 6 TIGER WOODS 1999-2000 4 BYRON NELSON 1945-46 4 JACK BURKE JR. 1952 4 BEN HOGAN 1953 4 TIGER WOODS 2006

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*--* WOODS’ STREAK Tournament Score Runner-up Score British Open 270 (-18) Chris DiMarco 272 Buick Open 264 (-24) Jim Furyk 267 PGA 270 (-18) Shaun Micheel 275 Bridgestone 270 (-10) Stewart Cink *270

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