Monday, June 4, 2001
Three Memorials in a row, Woods now looks
at fifth major
By TIM DAHLBERG
AP Sports Writer
DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Three straight Memorials came easy enough
for Tiger Woods. Next up is a streak that was once unthinkable
— five straight majors.
Woods continued his almost methodical dominance of golf Sunday,
seizing control with a brilliant 2-iron on the 5th hole on his
way to a final round 6-under-par 66 and his third Memorial Tournament
win in a row
Woods' final tuneup before the U.S. Open at Southern Hills was
all but over by the time the leaders headed for the back nine,
making the final holes a playground for Woods as he romped to
a seven-shot victory over Paul Azinger and Sergio Garcia.
It came with such ease that Azinger apologized to Woods as they
walked down the 17th hole that he hadn't made it a better game.
His fellow competitors were left to wonder what chance they might
have when the Open begins in Tulsa, Okla., a week from Thursday.
“I would say he's probably the most dominant athlete in the
history of sports,” Azinger said.
That is open to debate, but there was little debate Sunday of
Woods' greatness as he overtook the sentimental favorite Azinger
and never allowed Garcia to turn the final round into a personal
duel he so wanted.
The key shot was a 2-iron that flew high 249 yards over land and
water before dropping softly on the 5th green and leaving Woods
only a 4-foot uphill putt for eagle.
“It was a moon shot,” Azinger said.
“I was just praying it was enough club,” Woods said.
But the real key was the methodical and precise way with which
Woods made his way around Muirfield Village Golf Club, while his
opponents were hitting shots into the water, missing key putts
and whiffing chips.
Woods particularly dominated on the par-5s, where he was 14 under
for the week and with his length able to get on in two even when
his opponents had no chance.
“I put myself in a position to win. That always gives you
confidence knowing you have done it in the past,” Woods said.
Woods made only one bogey, from a greenside bunker on No. 8, and
when he finally did hit a wayward shot off the tee on 14 it hit
a tree branch and popped out into the light rough. Woods promptly
went on to birdie the hole.
Azinger was leading by one on the par-5, 527-yard 5th but had
just put a 3-wood into the water fronting the green when Woods
stood in the middle of the fairway and hit the shot that nestled
gently near the flag.
The large crowd had been relatively subdued to that point, but
erupted when Woods hit the shot and then again a few minutes later
when he made the eagle putt to take the lead for good.
“After Paul hit his shot I needed to get the ball on dry
land,” Woods said. “I was lucky enough to make 3.”
Azinger bogeyed the hole and the next, and by the time Woods tapped
in a short birdie putt on the par-5 7th he had a three-shot lead
over Azinger and Stuart Appleby and it never got any closer.
“He was able to coast on in,” Azinger said.
Azinger finished with a 2-over 74, while Garcia had a final-round
71. Appleby, who played with Woods in the final group and was
only two shots back at one point, shot a 74 that included a quadruple
bogey on the 12th hole.
The day had started on a more promising note for Azinger, who
returned to play the final four holes of a third round that was
suspended because of darkness the night before.
Azinger, who woke up with a two-shot lead, still had a one-shot
advantage when the leaders returned for an early afternoon tee
time for the final round after finishing off a third-round 69.
He promptly birdied No. 1 to make it a two-shot advantage and
was still ahead by a shot before the decisive 5th hole.
Garcia, meanwhile, began his day by 3-putting the eagle chance
he had on the suspended 15th hole and was never a factor.
It was the fourth win in the United States and fifth overall in
12 tournaments this year for Woods, who became the first player
since Tom Watson won three straight Byron Nelson Classics from
1978-80 to win the same tournament for three years in a row.
That streak will look good in the record books, but it pales to
the four consecutive major tournaments that Woods has won beginning
with last year's U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
And, in less than five years since winning the 1996 Las Vegas
Invitational, Woods has won 28 times in the United States and
37 worldwide. Five of those wins, including his latest, came by
seven shots or more.
Trying to catch him isn't only tough, it's nearly impossible.
“It's like trying to make an unmakeable putt,” Garcia
said.
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