Thursday, November 23, 2000
Woods eagles final hole, first
extra hole to beat Singh
By GORDON SAKAMOTO
Associated Press Writer
POIPU BEACH, Hawaii (AP) — Tiger Woods
even amazed himself with his dramatic eagle-eagle finish in the
PGA Grand Slam of Golf.
“I've never done something like this
before — with everything on the line,” Woods said after
eagling the par-5 18th hole twice Wednesday to tie and beat Vijay
Singh in a playoff.
“It was nice to execute the way I wanted
to.”
Woods, also the 1998 and 1999 winner in
the 36-hole tournament for the year's major champions, hit a 6-iron
approach from 231 yards to 8 feet to set up his tying eagle in
regulation.
In the playoff, Woods placed his second
shot in almost the same spot on the green and calmly holed the
putt to claim the $400,000 first prize. “Same putt, same
line,” Woods said.
Singh birdied the playoff hole after missing
a long eagle putt.
“The way I played, I was lucky to finish
where I did,” said Singh, who appeared to have the tournament
in hand when he rolled in an 18-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to
open up a two-stroke lead.
Despite the exciting finish, Woods pointed
to a 5-foot par-saving putt on No. 17 as the key.
“It gave me a chance to stay with Vijay,”
he said. “It kept me in the match. I knew if I could grind
it out, it would give me some momentum. That's how the scenario
played out.”
Woods, coming off a victory Sunday in the
Johnnie Walker Classic in Thailand, won for the 11th time this
year. He won nine times on the PGA Tour, including three majors.
Woods closed with a 4-under 68 and Singh,
the Masters champion, shot a 70 for 5-under 139 totals. Tom Lehman
shot a 70 to finish third at 143, and Paul Azinger had a 74 for
a 148 total.
Woods arrived at the Poipu Bay course a
couple of hours before the start of the tournament Tuesday, hit
a few warmup shots and proceeded to shoot a 71 that put him two
strokes behind Singh.
“I felt a lot better today,” Wood
said. “But I knew I had to go out there and get a good start,
which I was able to do.”
Lehman made an early move, making the turn
in 3-under 33 to move into a tie with Singh. But a double-bogey
on No. 13 knocked him out of contention.
Azinger couldn't recover from an opening
74. He picked up one stroke on the second hole, but a pair of
bogeys on two of the first three holes coming in and a double-bogey
at the 14th ended his hopes of catching up.
Because Woods won three majors — the
U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship — Lehman and
Azinger gained invitations based on their finishes in the elite
events. Ernie Els, the runner-up in three of the four major championships,
clinched an alternate berth, but withdrew because of a schedule
conflict.
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