Monday, August 28, 2000
Tiger triumphs by 11 at dusk despite bout
with flu
By Marla Ridenour
Knight Ridder Newspapers
(KRT)
AKRON, Ohio — Tiger Woods played the final two rounds with
the flu, his fever breaking on the fourth hole Sunday.
He sat through a rain delay of nearly three hours. He finished
the 18th hole in almost total darkness, with a few fans symbolically
flicking their cigarette lighters to aid his cause. He could be
bordering on exhaustion.
But seemingly nothing can derail one of the most phenomenal seasons
in the history of golf.
The Tiger Woods Special continued its whistle-stop tour of the
PGA as he claimed an 11-stroke victory over Justin Leonard and
Phillip Price on Sunday in the $5 million NEC Invitational at
Firestone Country Club.
Earning the $1 million first-place prize, Woods recorded his eighth
triumph of the year and pushed his earnings to a record $7.69
million. Winning back-to-back years at the Memorial, the PGA Championship
and the NEC, Woods became the first player since Johnny Miller
in 1975 to defend three tour titles in the same season.
Woods also became the first player since Sam Snead in 1938 and
1950 to win eight or more tournaments in two different seasons.
The only others to do it were Byron Nelson (1944 and `45) and
Ben Hogan (1946 and `48). Woods and Nelson are the only two to
do it in consecutive years. Woods' 16th tour victory in two seasons
is the most since Snead's 17 in 1949-50.
“I'm a better player than I was last year and hopefully it
will be the same next year,” Woods said. “Winning isn't
always a barometer of getting better. I need to keep fine-tuning
my swing. The putting stroke, one day you're going to have it,
the next day you're not going to find it.
“The better you get, obviously, the amount of improvement
gets smaller. But nonetheless, it is still improvement.”
Woods' four-day total of 21-under-par 259 (64-61-67-67) was the
best 72-hole score at Firestone, topping Jose Maria Olazabal's
262 in 1990. The 259 is also the lowest 72-hole score on the tour
this year.
“What we're witnessing now, I don't think anyone in the history
of the game has torn golf courses apart like this guy does,”
Nick Price said after finishing at 280. “To shoot 192 the
first three days around this golf course is beyond description.
I'm happy for him and I'm happy I got to see it.
“The performances we've seen from him the last two years
will be something that will go down in the history books. The
money, the dominance. His dad and mother must have kept something
from him as a kid, he's so determined.”
Stewart Cink, who shot the day's best round of 63 for a 272 total,
is also amazed at what Woods is doing.
“It is a little demoralizing to keep the morale of the troops
up,” Cink said. “But he's playing golf like nobody's
ever seen before. It's fun to watch. I've become a fan of his
kind of golf.”
Woods and partner Hal Sutton had hit only 2 shots when play was
suspended at 2:16 p.m. due to lightning. When the storm hit, it
hung over the course and the downpour sent most fans scurrying
home to watch on television. Play resumed at 5:10 p.m.
Even though he wasn't feeling well, the delay didn't seem to bother
Woods. The closest challengers could never cut Woods' lead to
fewer than 5 strokes.
Hal Sutton got to 12 under with birdies at three of the first
six holes, then saw Woods end a string of 20 straight pars with
a bogey on No. 7.
But Sutton bogeyed No. 8 when he landed in a soggy trap and his
sand wedge came up short of the green. Woods birdied at No. 8
to basically end the day for Sutton, who ended up bogeying three
straight holes, including a three-putt at No. 10.
Phillip Price whittled Woods' lead to 5 with a birdie at No. 12,
but Woods silenced that with a birdie at the same hole minutes
later. Price bogeyed three of the last four holes, including No.
18 to drop out of second place alone. Price would have earned
$500,000, but instead had to settle for $437,500 in sharing runner-up
honors with Leonard.
With two groups — Woods-Sutton and Price-Phil Mickelson —
on the course as darkness fell, any player could have made the
call to stop and resume this morning. Price had the most to lose,
but wasn't second-guessing his decision.
“One of the officials said, `It is your call,' going up 17,”
Price said. “No. 17 was OK. The last two shots on 18 were
probably a bit of a struggle, but I wanted to get it done.”
Woods said as the pace of play picked up and no one encroached
on his lead, he expected to finish.
“Because of the lead I had, I think everyone just wanted
to get in and get it done,” he said. “If the tournament
were tied, I guarantee we would have stopped.”
(c) 2000, Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio).
Visit Akron Beacon Journal Online at http://www.ohio.com/.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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