What better way for Tiger Woods to cap a remarkable 2007 than by winning his own tournament?
It almost seemed a foregone conclusion when play began today that Tiger Woods would become the first player ever to win the Target World Challenge in back-to-back years. The birth of Sam Alexis Woods, a PGA Championship, the inaugural FedEx Cup, seven total victories, and PGA Tour Player of the Year were all jewels in Tiger Woods’s 2007 crown. He can now top it off with an eighth victory with his win today at the Target World Challenge. It’s been a remarkable year for Woods who reasserted his dominance over his competition by placing first in the money list, and equaling his own scoring average record of 67.79.
When play began today Jim Furyk was the closest competitor to Tiger. Through nine holes, Furyk had cut the lead to two. However, the turning point of the tournament came as they made the turn on the 10th green. After both found the tenth fairway, Furyk’s short wedge shot ended up just four feet from the hole. Woods then hit a short wedge that bounced and spun back about twelve feet from the green. Woods sunk his birdie putt, while Furyk’s slid past the hole leaving him a tricky four foot comeback putt. Furyk missed again and the three shot swing would be more than enough breathing room for Woods. Furyk continued to struggle on the back nine and his final round 71 left him nine shots behind Woods. "I thought I hit it stiff [at ten] and hit about five feet behind the hole and it was quick and I started thinking too much about making it and I go four feet by and missed it coming back. That’s kind of the story of my back nine," said Furyk.
For Woods, even his long layoff wasn’t enough to stop his victory over a very competitive field. Woods remarked, "Yesterday I was just a little off and today I was a little bit more off. I just managed my game real well and made some putts this week, which was nice. But I felt really good about my preparation coming into the event." Despite his struggles, Woods still managed to tie the event’s records for margin of victory as well as strokes under par (-22) which was set by Davis Love III in the first event.
Perhaps the most welcome sight for Woods was having his infant daughter greet him as he walked off the 18th green. "Even though I had won, I just want to know how she’s doing, how she’s been all day. I forgot that for a moment, hey, you won a golf tournament," said Woods. As in years past, Woods will donate his entire winner’s check to the Tiger Woods Foundation. However, Woods was most impressed by his improvement in his golf swing, especially in the quality of his misses, "The most important thing as I described earlier is my misses aren’t what they used to be. I hit a couple bad tee shots today where I’m like, that wasn’t very good, and it’s right there in the middle of the fairway. That wasn’t the case before."
