World Golf Championship title number 10 for Tiger
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2005 American Express Championship | Wrap | 10 Oct 2005
Ten individual World Golf Championship titles and one World Cup event thrown in since the World Golf Championship concept started in 1999, seems to suggest a player who has dominated world golf in the last six years. Given that no other player has won more than one, the results further highlight Tiger Wood’s absolute domination of these events, if not the game.
Today Woods found a way to win against a determined John Daly, who combined his enormous power with his deft putting touch to all but snatch the victory. Woods putted brilliantly all week and hit the right shots at the right time to overcome a two shot deficit with three holes to play thanks to a great birdie at the 16th and Daly’s three putt bogey at the 17th. Both players had displayed awesome power all week, Daly averaging more than 322 yards on drives measured and Woods only four or so yards behind him.
While the battle between Woods and Daly was, to a large extent a slugfest, the result, as it most often does in this game, came down to a putt of less than a metre to determine the result. Both players missed makeable putts from inside twenty feet at the 72nd hole and so it was back to the 18th to see if the deadlock could be broken. It wasn’t, but at the second playoff hole (16th) Woods watched as Daly missed from less than a metre and the first prize of US$1.3 million was his. The huge first place prize takes Woods beyond his previous season high of US$9.18 million set in 2000, his earnings in 2005 now US$9.9 million. He is still $1 million behind Singh’s 2004 record and a win at the Disney event and or Tour Championship would take him into record territory.
Colin Montgomerie, after having led the event for much of the first three days, eventually held on for a share of third for which he will earn $US353,000 and more than enough to sweep him past Michael Campbell and into the lead on the European Tour Order of Merit for the first time in six years. It has been a stunning year for Montgomerie considering some of the personal issues he has had to deal with.
Sergio Garcia and Henrik Stenson held up the European end of the bargain even further by sharing third with Montgomerie. 29-year-old Stenson is such an improved player in 2005. He has not yet won this year, but he has developed such a level of consistency that he will move to 7th on the European tour money list in 2005 compared with his previous best of 32nd last year. Garcia has also been in fine form in recent weeks.
Perhaps reflecting the increasing depth in world golf, seventeen of the top twenty four placegetters were non-American. It might have also reflected a golf course where the typical week in, week out US conditions did not prevail.
Of the Australasians Stuart Appleby was the best in 11th place, unable to take advantage of the opportunity he had created for himself with his middle rounds of 65 and 69. Adam Scott was 29th, Peter Lonard 37th, Rod Pampling 41st, Michael Campbell 46th, Richard Green 51st, Mark Hensby and Nick O’Hern 56th, Gavin Coles 59th and Euan Walters 61st.
Photo – Anthony Powter
