Woods - in ominous form ahead of Ryder Cup (Allsport)
By Mark Garrod, PA Sport Golf Correspondent
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Europe have been warned. Whatever Tiger Woods thinks of the Ryder Cup, he is
in magical form heading to The Belfry on Monday.
Woods won the American Express world championship - and its million-dollar
first prize - by a single shot from South African Retief Goosen at Mount Juliet
in Ireland on Sunday.
The world number one equalled the lowest 72-hole total of his career with his
25 under par aggregate - and but for a missed four-foot putt on the last he
would have completed the tournament without a single bogey.
That hurt a little, yet it was soon forgotten because this was one of the most
accomplished performances he has ever produced.
Goosen gave the 33,000 crowd an exciting finish they were not expecting when
he followed four birdies in five holes with a six-foot eagle putt on the long
17th.
It reduced the gap to one, but as he was missing from 22-foot on the last
Woods, having driven into the trees on the 17th, holed an 18-footer which made
the difference two again.
As a result he could afford to bogey the last and while he would dearly loved
not to have done, the punching of the air told its own story. This was still
mission accomplished.
But there were also three things to cheer European captain Sam Torrance on the
final day of the £3.5million championship.
First Colin Montgomerie declared he was fit to play, then Swedish rookie
Niclas Fasth equalled the course record with a 64, then Sergio Garcia smashed it
by two, equalling the lowest round of his career in the process.
Goosen also shot 62, but as at the Masters in April he had to accept the
runners-up spot behind Woods.
The 26-year-old American, who caused controversy on Thursday by saying he
wanted to win this title more than the Ryder Cup, led by one after the first
round, two at halfway and five with 18 holes to go.
When he birdied three of the first five of those, the chasing pack were made
to feel like warm-up acts for the real show.
American Jerry Kelly got the gap down to two, but as he did so Woods made a
magnificent eagle on the 562-yard 10th, hitting his second shot over a huge oak
tree to 15 feet and rolling home the putt.
That was one challenge repelled and try as he did, Goosen could not get on
terms either.
But Garcia for one is not going to worry about how Woods or the other
Americans fared this week, though, after charging from joint 23rd place to
seventh.
"This means nothing," said the 22-year-old Spaniard. "The Ryder Cup is a
different tournament. The atmosphere and energy inside you changes for a Ryder
Cup."
His round, which he rates only slightly behind the 62 he had at Loch Lomond
three years ago, reached its crescendo with a 95-foot chip-in for eagle at the
long 17th.
He badly wanted his 10-footer on the last for a first-ever 61, but that was
one that got away.
Woods' performance was not the only one to bring a smile to the face of
American captain Curtis Strange.
David Toms was joint fourth, Davis Love eighth and Phil Mickelson finished
what had been a disappointing week with a 64 that equalled the course record
until Garcia's and Goosen's rounds. It could have been even better - he bogeyed
the last.
Five birdies and an eagle in the eight holes before bogey which might have had
something to do with Mickelson speaking to Strange on the 10th.
"I said it reminded me of college days with your coach watching you trying to
qualify," said the world number two. "I wanted to play better and better as
the week progressed and I think that's the case.
"I should be pretty close to be ready on Friday, but I don't think what's
happened here is intimidating for the European tour. Look at the quality you've
got - I expect it to be close."
Woods is virtually certain now to be the US Tour's leading money-winner for the
fourth straight year and fifth time in six years - even if he does not play
another event. With nearly 6.5million he leads second-placed Phil Mickelson by
two-and-a-half million.
If his name was included on the European Order of Merit he would be dominating
that as well with four wins in eight starts.
He has won 46 of the 125 tournaments he has entered - and not missed a cut for
five years.
Woods' record in the World Golf Championships series of events is now a
staggering six wins in 12 attempts.
In 1999, the year of their introduction, he won the American Express and NEC
titles. In 2000 he defended the NEC crown by 11 strokes and teamed up with David
Duval to lift the World Cup. And last year he made it three NEC victories in a
row, this time defeating Jim Furyk after a dramatic seven-hole play-off.
And during this period, of course, he has been taking his haul of majors to
eight. The bigger the stage the more successful he is.
The one tournament in the WGC series he has yet to triumph in is the Accenture
world match play - he lost in the quarter-finals to eventual winner Jeff Maggert
in 1999, in the final to Darren Clarke the following season and this February
(he did not travel to Melbourne last season) he suffered a shock first round
upset to Australian Peter O'Malley.
That defeat highlights again the unpredictable nature of 18-hole match play
and gives Europe hope that, whatever form he is in, there are no guarantees
about him contributing five points out of five this week.
Woods has not come even remotely close to that either in the Ryder Cup or the
Presidents Cup so far in his career.
On his Ryder Cup debut at Valderrama five years ago he won only once, halved
once and lost three times. Costantino Rocca beat him in the singles.
In Boston in 1999 he lost twice on the opening day and again in the second
fourballs, while in two Presidents Cup appearances his record is five wins and
five defeats. Not once has he managed even a halve in four fourball matches.
But the fact remains - and nobody needed Mount Juliet to prove it - that he is
by far away the most talented player on view this week and it is unthinkable
that Strange would leave him out at any stage.
"I don't know if he is intimidating - that's a big word - but I am glad he is
on my team," commented Strange.
"But he is somewhat vulnerable over 18 holes of match play, just like Jack
Nicklaus and everybody else. It's just a sprint."
Over the next four days Strange will try to make sure Woods and the rest of
his men are kept as happy as possible. There is no disguising now that they do
not like the busy schedule leading up to the match.
Collated final totals (Gbr and Irl unless stated, par 72):
263 Tiger Woods (USA) 65 65 67 66 (£641,642)
264 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 67 67 68 62 (£346,487)
267 Vijay Singh (Fij) 67 69 66 65 (£235,803)
268 Jerry Kelly (USA) 67 65 70 66, David Toms (USA) 66 67 69 66 (£150,786
each)
269 Scott McCarron (USA) 71 67 64 67 (£115,495)
270 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 69 69 70 62 (£99,454)
271 Davis Love (USA) 69 67 68 67 (£83,413)
272 Michael Campbell (Nzl) 71 66 71 64, Bob Estes (USA) 68 68 69 67
273 Niclas Fasth (Swe) 68 69 72 64, Chris DiMarco (USA) 67 69 70 67, Stuart
Appleby (Aus) 69 66 70 68, Justin Leonard (USA) 68 68 69 68
274 Gary Evans 67 68 73 66, Nick Price (Zim) 68 71 69 66, Scott Verplank (USA)
68 72 68 66, Mike Weir (Can) 67 70 68 69, Rocco Mediate (USA) 69 67 67 71, Steve
Lowery (USA) 66 67 69 72
275 Padraig Harrington 69 70 67 69
276 Kenny Perry (USA) 68 71 68 69
277 Phil Mickelson (USA) 70 72 71 64, Ernie Els (Rsa) 68 67 72 70, Stephen
Leaney (Aus) 69 67 71 70, Scott Hoch (USA) 71 68 67 71
278 Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa) 68 72 69 69, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 71 71 67 69,
Kevin Sutherland (USA) 69 68 70 71, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 72 68 66 72
279 Colin Montgomerie 72 70 69 68, Robert Allenby (Aus) 72 70 67 70
280 Mark Calcavecchia (USA) 72 70 71 67, Bernhard Langer (Ger) 72 68 70 70,
Jim Furyk (USA) 69 69 69 73
281 Jose Coceres (Arg) 68 72 71 70, Eduardo Romero (Arg) 70 71 70 70, Angel
Cabrera (Arg) 71 66 73 71
282 Tom Lehman (USA) 73 72 67 70, Chris Riley (USA) 73 68 70 71, Adam Scott
(Aus) 70 70 69 73, Soren Hansen (Den) 75 68 65 74
283 Paul Azinger (USA) 73 73 71 66, John Rollins (USA) 73 72 67 71, Jeff
Sluman (USA) 69 69 72 73
284 Justin Rose 73 70 72 69, Len Mattiace (USA) 70 73 69 72, David Duval (USA)
71 65 72 76
285 John Cook (USA) 75 71 71 68, Brad Faxon (USA) 70 77 67 71, Rich Beem (USA)
70 69 74 72, Craig Parry (Aus) 68 71 74 72, Fred Funk (USA) 69 70 72 74
286 Paul Lawrie 71 70 74 71, Peter Lonard (Aus) 71 69 72 74, Carl Pettersson
(Swe) 72 72 68 74
289 Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 72 74 73 70, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 75 73 71 70,
Anders Hansen (Den) 71 72 72 74
290 Scott Laycock (Aus) 74 72 72 72
291 Craig Perks (Nzl) 74 74 75 68
292 Tim Clark (Rsa) 74 69 76 73
295 Darren Clarke 75 76 70 74
298 Kenichi Kuboya (Jpn) 77 72 73 76
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