Woods wins again as a front-runner

Tiger Woods has another trophy for his overflowing collection.

Woods shot a three-under-par 69 Sunday at Grand Blanc Township, Mich., and coasted to a three-shot victory with a 20-under 268 at the Buick Open for the 69th PGA Tour title of his career.

“This one feels good,” he said.

He improved to 36-1 when he has the outright lead after 54 holes. Woods has four wins this season in 11 starts since returning from knee surgery.

Roland Thatcher (64) made a big move early and briefly was tied with Woods at 17 under. Thatcher finished tied for second with Greg Chalmers (68) and John Senden (70), as no one made a real run at Woods.

“I might go take a picture of the scoreboard since I’m tied with Tiger, but I’m not going to worry about getting ready for a playoff,” Thatcher said when he ended his round soon after Woods was starting his. “I’m sure he’s going to make my day a moot point.”

Woods will play at the Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio this week before going to Hazeltine in Minnesota in two weeks for the PGA Championship, his final chance to win a major this year.

Woods moved into first place in the FedEx Cup standings and padded his lead on the money list with another $918,000 after winning his third Buick Open.

His career victory total trails Jack Nicklaus (73) and Sam Snead (82). Dating to the 2006 British Open, he has won 21 of 39 starts on the PGA Tour.

Woods, whose previous three wins this year were each by one shot, spent much of Sunday with a two-shot cushion before he took a three-stroke lead with a birdie at No. 16. His businesslike final round included three birdies and no bogeys.

“I got fooled a few times by the wind and I hit some bad shots,” Woods said.

--

Funk breezes to Senior Open title

Fred Funk set a tournament record by finishing 20 under par and won the U.S. Senior Open by six strokes at Carmel, Ind.

Funk shot a seven-under 65 at Crooked Stick and beat Hale Irwin’s record set in 2000 by three strokes.

Joey Sindelar finished second at 14 under, his sixth top-10 finish of the season.

Funk birdied holes No. 2, 5 and 9 on Sunday for a 33 on the front nine and was on his way to routing the field.

Loren Roberts tied the course record with a 64 on Sunday to finish tied for fourth at 11 under.

Greg Norman, who started the day one stroke behind Funk, finished tied with Roberts. His tee shot went into the water on No. 6 and he double bogeyed. On the next hole, he shot out of a bunker and landed on the green, but he two-putted and bogeyed.

Amateur Tim Jackson, who led after the first two days, shot a 76 on Sunday to finish tied for 11th place at 282. That was the lowest by an amateur in U.S. Senior Open history, shattering the record of 288 set by Greg Reynolds and George Zahringer in 2005. He also shot the lowest round for an amateur in a U.S. Senior Open, a 66 on Thursday.

Tom Watson, the runner-up at the British Open, tied for 43rd.

--

Matthew wins British Open

Catriona Matthew birdied three holes in a row on the back nine and won the Women’s British Open by three strokes, earning her first major title 10 weeks after she gave birth to her second child.

The 39-year-old Scot shot a one-under 71 at Lytham St. Annnes, England, that left her at three-under 285. Karrie Webb of Australia closed with a 68 to finish second.

“I’m speechless,” Matthew said. “To be honest, I didn’t play that well today, but I holed good putts at the 13th and 14th, which I needed.”

Paula Creamer (71), Hee-Won Han (70), Ai Miyazato (73) and Christina Kim (74) tied for fourth place at 289.

After the round, it was announced that Michelle Wie was selected as a wild card to make her Solheim Cup debut for the United States later this month in Illinois. Juli Inkster was also picked as a wild card.