“When I hit it I knew it was going to be a good one,” Woods said after his 70th career win in his 248th career start, a .299 winning percentage. “I thought it was going to be just a little bit past the hole. I was surprised it spun that much, considering it was that much downwind. But it came back and ended up a kick-in.”
The victory was the 16th in 30 WGC events for the world’s No. 1 player, including six times in the CA Championship, three times at the Accenture Match Play and a record seven times at Firestone Country Club in the Bridgestone and its forerunner, the NEC Invitational.
Only Sam Snead has more victories in a single tournament, with eight wins in Greensboro, N.C. But Snead achieved that on different courses. No one has ever dominated on a single course like this.
“Certain golf courses you just feel comfortable,” Woods said. “You see the tee shots, you see the approach shots, and the greens seem to be easier to read than others. This golf course is one of those for me. I think my results kind of show that.”
He has won the last four times he’s played at Firestone, winning three in a row before sitting out a year ago while he was recuperating from knee surgery. He also won three in a row from 1999-2001.
His closing 5-under 65 left him at 12-under 268, four shots better than Harrington and Robert Allenby.
Woods has won at least one WGC event in each of the last 11 years and altogether has pocketed $21.8 million in his WGC starts alone.
The victory was his fifth in a year that many—possibly even Woods—will consider disappointing if he doesn’t also capture the year’s final major championship, the PGA Championship this week at Hazeltine in Chaska, Minn.
“It’s going to be a quick turnaround,” Woods said. “I’ll be out there tomorrow. I’ll celebrate quickly.”
After taking a three-shot lead over Woods through 54 holes, Harrington said he looked forward to squaring off mano-a-mano with Woods in the final round.
But that advantage had evaporated within four holes. Playing in the same group, Harrington opened with four pars while Woods eagled the second hole and added a birdie on the fourth. He birdied the fifth to take the lead.
By the turn, Woods was up by two strokes and seemed to be in command. But bogeys at the 13th and 14th holes dropped him a shot back of Harrington, who had parred the first 10 holes before picking up his sole birdie of the round at the 11th.
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