TIGER WOODS has won his 75th US PGA Tour tournament with a scratchy final round performance at a weather-affected 2013 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.
On paper it was a commanding four stroke victory – it is the seventh time he has won the event – but he won’t be happy with dropping four strokes on his final five holes, mainly due to some erratic driving.
Woods went into the fog-delayed final round on Sunday (local US time) with a four stroke lead and built that up to six strokes when darkness stopped play after he had only completed eight holes.
Back on Monday he stretched the lead to eight before things started to go awry with a bogey on 14, a double on 15 and another single on 17.
It isn’t often you get US commentators questioning if Woods will win when he has a four stroke lead on the final tee.
“It got a little ugly towards the end and I started to lose my patience a little with the slow play and I lost my focus there a little bit but I buckled down and was able to get the win,” said Woods, rightfully commenting on some glacially slow play that had him waiting on nearly every shot.
The win puts Woods just seven victories behind the record holder Sam Snead on 82. Jack Nicklaus is back in third on 73.
It was the 39 year old’s first US event for the year after missing the cut in Abu Dhabi last week.
In the past, first off wins have often seen him go on to Major winning season’s but whether he is truly back in that sort of form is still to be seen. While his iron play, chipping and putting were excellent, he has obvious problems to fix with the driver.
Woods still has quite a way to go before he can overtake (numerically at least) current world No.1 Rory McIlroy and isn’t expected to tee it up again till the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship next month.
Woods (even par 72) finished at 14-under today with defending champion Brandt Snedeker (69) and Josh Teater (69) tied for second on 10-under par.
Baddeley and Day in top 10
Australia’s Aaron Baddeley finished with a 69 to tie for 6th place while a fast-finishing Jason Day (66) had the best round of the day to also make the top ten.
Baddeley resumed his final round with a bang, making a lengthy eagle putt before faltering with a couple of bogeys. He fought back with three birdies in his final six holes to finish on 8-under.
“It was great to finish this way,” Baddeley said. “This is a course where a good score goes a long way and that’s the type of golf I enjoy.”
Day’s final round included an eagle and six birdies and hopefully augurs well for an improved 2013.
“At the start of the week I was a bit rusty but as the week went on I definitely felt better which was nice,” Day said. “Overall it’s a pretty good week to start the year with a top 10 when not at my best.”
John Senden (-4) and Scott Gardiner (+3) rounded out the Aussie golfers making the cut.
2013 Farmers Insurance Open Final Results