Tuesday, May 30, 2000
Woods cruises to victory in
Memorial
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) - Tiger Woods had a six-stroke
lead and was on top of his game. That meant everyone else was
playing for second Monday in the Memorial Tournament.
Jack Nicklaus wouldn't be surprised if it
were like that every week.
A year ago, Nicklaus watched Woods hit the
ball all over Muirfield Village and save par with a superior short
game to win by two strokes.
This year was different, but no less amazing.
Woods was in total control of every shot,
except the 7-iron he blasted over the 18th green and into the
gallery. That cost him a chance to break the tournament scoring
record, but his 2-under 70 for a 269 was still good enough for
a five-stroke victory.
"When you have the ability to outdistance
your opponents by 30 or 40 yards and know exactly what you're
doing and where it's going to go," Nicklaus said, pausing
to look at Woods with disbelief, "you're playing for second
every week, unless he doesn't play well."
Everyone else found that out Monday as the
rain-delayed Memorial concluded with hardly any fist pumps and
even fewer dramatics - just another victory by Woods.
Ernie Els and Justin Leonard wound up tied
for first in the B-Flight at 274.
"I think everybody out here is beatable,"
Leonard said. "You just have to have the right kind of day
and the right week. And this week wasn't it."
Along with successfully defending a title
for the first time in 10 tries, Woods became the first repeat
champion in the 25-year history of the tournament and joined Nicklaus,
Tom Watson, Hale Irwin and Greg Norman as the only players to
win the Memorial twice.
"I needed to shoot a good front nine
to increase my lead and make sure the guys didn't have a chance,"
said Woods, who made three birdies inside 4 feet on the front.
"I appreciate every victory I get."
Els got within four strokes before his lone
bogey in a round of 7-under 65. Leonard holed a lob wedge from
81 yards for eagle on No. 5 in his round of 68, giving him his
best finish since a tie for third in the Canadian Open last September.
"This is like tying for first in the
other tournament going on," Leonard said.
Said Els: "If it wasn't for Tiger,
I'd be in good position."
But Woods made his tee time, and the rest
of a cool, gray day at Muirfield Village quickly lost its suspense.
The only question was the margin of victory.
Woods squandered his chance to break Tom
Lehman's tournament scoring record of 268 set in 1994 by failing
to make birdie on any of the par 5s. Needing a birdie on the last
hole, he blasted a 7-iron from 156 yards that hit the cart path
and bounded 20 yards up the hill, finishing closer to the clubhouse
than the green. He wound up with a bogey.
"That was one of the worst shots I've
ever seen," Woods said. "I've played in many pro-ams,
but wow! I definitely need some work."
Others might beg to differ.
Woods won for the 11th time in his last
20 tour events, and has finished out of the top 10 just twice
in his last 25 tournaments around the world. He joined Tom Kite
and Ben Crenshaw with 19 career victories on the PGA Tour.
Woods won $558,000, giving him more than
$4.1 million this year - already the second highest in PGA Tour
history behind his '99 season - and making him the first player
to go over $15 million in career earnings.
"In his own mind, he can get better,"
Els said. "In everyone else's mind, he's as good as we want
him to play."
Mike Weir had a 69 to finish fourth at 276,
boosting his bid to become the first Canadian to make the Presidents
Cup team. Steve Lowery, paired with Woods and trying to make up
six shots, instead had a 73 and was at 278 along with Paul Azinger
(66) and Steve Flesch (70), who earned enough money to qualify
for the British Open.
That's about what the final round amounted
to - consolation prizes.
Woods won for the fourth time this year,
giving him 12 victories over the past two seasons, with the second
half of 2000 still to come. The last player to win this much was
Nicklaus, who had 14 victories in the 1972 and '73 seasons.
Nicklaus tried to make Muirfield Village
tougher this year, with thicker rough and smaller greens with
new contours. Those changes were offset by soft, still conditions
the last three rounds - and by Woods.
"He's just making mincemeat out of
golf courses," Nicklaus said Monday morning after finishing
his 25th Memorial at 5-over 293. "Every time you turn around,
it's 63, 64. Guys in the locker room were saying, 'Jack, this
golf course is not that easy.' He's making it look easy."
The closest anyone came to Woods was when
Els birdied the 15th get to 15 under, and Woods made his only
bogey at the 13th to drop to 19 under. But Woods answered with
a birdie on his next hole, Els bogeyed the par-3 16th and order
was restored.
Woods is now 17-2 worldwide in tournaments
where he has held at least a share of the 54-hole lead, and the
six-stroke advantage at the start of the final round was his largest
since his nine-stroke lead in the 1997 Masters.
For the second year in a row, Woods will
go into the U.S. Open on a winning note. He made a gallant bid
to win at Pinehurst No. 2 last year, missing a short putt on the
17th, and wound up two strokes behind Payne Stewart.
Woods said he might attend a few games in
the NBA Finals if his beloved Lakers can finish off Portland.
Otherwise, he'll be aiming for Pebble Beach, where he won on another
cool, gray Monday by making up seven shots over the last seven
holes.
This was nowhere near as dramatic, but it
counts as a victory just the same.
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