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Golf

Steady Woods tops spirited Toms

CARLSBAD, Calif. -- Tiger Woods always knew the final piece of his World Golf Championships collection would be the toughest for him to win.

David Toms made sure of that.

Leading by as many as five holes, Woods recovered from a few shaky shots and held off Toms' gritty charge to win the 36-hole final of the Match Play Championship 2-and-1, becoming the first to capture all four WGC tournaments.

"This is the hardest to win," Woods said. "Yeah, it's physically grueling, but I think it's more mentally grueling because of the ebb and flow of match play. If we had to do this every week, every pro's playing career would be about 10 years."

The final match must have felt like a lifetime.

Woods was 4 up after the 18-hole morning round and held that margin with 11 holes to play. Two sloppy bogeys and a few clutch birdies by Toms brought high drama to La Costa.

Woods, who never trailed, closed him out when Toms took four shots to reach the 17th green and Woods saved par from a bunker, holing a 3-foot putt.

"He never really got all the momentum," Woods said. "He got a lot of it, but not all of it."

Woods won for the 36th time on the PGA Tour and earned $1,050,000. Toms earned $600,000.

Woods was 5 up after one hole in the afternoon round and had an 8-foot birdie putt. Toms rolled in a 35-footer to win the hole and seize momentum, which got stronger when Woods made bogeys on Nos. 8 and 9.

"I'm not going to quit," Toms said. "That's not my nature. We're on national TV and I wanted to last a long time. I didn't want to be embarrassed. When he got 5 up, I just had to dig deep and not give in."

But it was too large a deficit to overcome, especially against Woods, who won three straight U.S. Junior Amateur titles and three straight U.S. Amateurs, but was 0-4 in match play as a pro.

Clinging to a 1-up lead on the 35th hole of the day, Woods watched Toms hit his drive into the rough behind some trees. Woods, who had hit driver on the 483-yard hole all week, used a 3-wood and split the middle.

Adam Scott defeated Peter Lonard 1-up in the 18-hole consolation match. Scott earned $480,000, his largest check. Lonard won $390,000.

CHRYSLER CLASSIC: Frank Lickliter II withstood wind, rain, a charge by Chad Campbell and a shot into the water off the 18th tee for a two-stroke victory in the PGA Tour event in Tucson, Ariz.

Lickliter shot 3-under 69 to finish at 269. It was his second tour win and first since he began a drastic overhaul of his swing 18 months ago.

He clinched it with a 5-iron approach on No. 18 within 4 feet of the pin.

"That's the best iron shot I hit all week," he said. "It's rather exciting, because I had nothing but positive thoughts when I made that swing."

He then made the putt for par.

After a 49-minute suspension of play because of the threat of lightning, Lickliter came to the final hole one up on Campbell. Both drove into the water on the par-4, 465-yard 18th, considered one of the tougher holes on tour.

Campbell, runner-up for the second time in his two seasons, tied Lickliter at 19 under with three holes to play but bogeyed Nos. 16 and 18 to finish at 271.

DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC: Woods pulled out of next week's event in the United Arab Emirates, which has lost several players concerned about a possible war in Iraq.

"It's just not a safe environment over there right now," Woods said after the Match Play Championship. " ... If it's safe next year, I'll go, because I want to go back."

Colin Montgomerie and Nick Faldo also are staying away from Dubai. Defending champion Ernie Els announced Friday he would participate.

WOMEN'S AUSTRALIAN OPEN: Mhairi McKay made four straight birdies on the back nine and shot 5-under 67 for her first career title in Sydney. She beat Laura Davies at the Terrey Hills Country Club by one stroke. McKay finished at 11-under 277; Davies closed with 72. McKay was tied for third, four shots behind leaders Davies and Suzanne Strudwick, after three rounds. Strudwick shot 78 and finished at 284, tied for 14th.

JACOB'S CREEK OPEN: Joe Ogilvie won the Nationwide Tour event in Adelaide, Australia, closing with 1-over 72 to hold off Shane Tait by a stroke. Ogilvie, who spent the previous four years on the PGA Tour, had 279 total.

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