Golf

Woods at fabulous 50 faster than Jack

Or Arnie, or anyone else. A Buick Open victory makes Tiger Woods the youngest golfer with 50 PGA Tour titles.

By TIMES WIRES
Published August 7, 2006

	[AP photo]
	Tiger Woods samples the icing off a cake dedicated to his Buick Open victory and his 50th PGA Tour title at Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club in Grand Blanc, Mich., Sunday, Aug. 6.

GRAND BLANC, Mich. - The ultimate goal for Tiger Woods is to surpass Jack Nicklaus' record for victories in professional majors.

Along the way, he also hopes to break Sam Snead's mark for PGA Tour wins.

Woods won his 50th PGA Tour title Sunday, shooting his fourth straight 6-under 66 for a three-stroke victory over Jim Furyk in the Buick Open.

"I've had a lot of wonderful things happen to me in my career so far on tour in 10 years," he said. "It's been a great ride."

Woods reached a season-low 24 under and made a career-high 28 birdies in the tournament to hold off Furyk - who closed with 64 - for his fourth win of the year. Woods earned $864,000 to push his tour-leading total to $5,127,563.

This title came on the heels of his emotional victory in the British Open. He will aim for his 12th major Aug. 17-20 at the PGA Championship, where he hopes to close in on the record he covets: Nicklaus' 18 professional major championships.

Woods became the seventh member of the tour's 50-win club and improved to 21-for-21 when leading by more than one stroke after three rounds. The 30-year-old beat Nicklaus' record pace to the milestone, which Nicklaus reached in 1973 at 33.

Snead is atop the PGA Tour's career wins list with 82, ahead of Nicklaus (73). Woods' next victory ties him with Billy Casper for sixth; the one after that ties Byron Nelson for fifth.

Vaughn Taylor, who finished five shots back, is in awe of Woods.

"He's probably the greatest player to ever play the game, and we get to watch him every week," Taylor said. "I can't even imagine doing the things he's done."

Woods likely ended any hopes his competitors had when he made four birdies on the front nine to build on the two-shot lead he had at the start of the fourth round.

He took the lead alone for good at 13 when his approach from 105 yards landed close enough for a tap-in birdie. At 15, Woods' birdie gave him a two-shot lead.

Woods, also the 2002 winner at Warwick Hills, fell one stroke short of his 72-hole record of 25-under 263 from the 2002 WGC-American Express Championship, then said he really doesn't like these kinds of shootouts.

"I enjoy playing where single digits is a good winning score," he said.

Other tournaments

CHAMPIONS TOUR: David Edwards won the 3M Championship for his first senior title, making five birdies in a six-hole stretch en route to 5-under 67 and a two-stoke victory over Craig Stadler and Brad Bryant in Blaine, Minn.

Edwards, 50, birdied Nos. 8, 9, 11, 12 and 13 to reach 11 under and finished at 12-under 204 total on the TPC Twin Cities. Stadler (68) earned his third straight runnerup finish in the event.

EUROPEAN TOUR: Marc Warren parred the second playoff hole to beat Robert Karlsson and win the Scandinavian Masters in Loddekopinge, Sweden, for his first tour title. Karlsson double bogeyed the hole after hitting into the trees twice. Both players finished at 278.

NATIONWIDE TOUR: Johnson Wagner eagled the par-5 17th hole in Omaha, Neb., highlighting a four-stroke victory over Craig Bowden at the Cox Classic. Wagner shot 8-under 63 to finish at 263 and take the top spot on the money list.

FUTURES TOUR: Charlotte Mayorkas shot 67 for a 54-hole total of 207 and defeated Hye Jung Choi and Meaghan Francella by four strokes to win the Laconia Savings Bank Classic in Concord, N.H. Clearwater's Jenny Gleason (75-220) tied for 36th.

WESTERN AMATEUR: Bronson LaCassie became the first Australian to win the 104-year-old tournament, beating Spain's Pablo Martin 2 and 1 in the final in Benton Township, Mich.

TIGER'S elite age

With his victory Sunday in the Buick Open, Tiger Woods became the youngest player - by nearly three years - with 50 PGA Tour championships. Here are the seven golfers to reach the mark and the age at which they did it. Golfer Age

Tiger Woods 30 years, 7 months

Jack Nicklaus 33 years, 6 months

Byron Nelson 34 years, 5 months

Ben Hogan 35 years, 11 months

Arnold Palmer 37 years, 5 months

Sam Snead 37 years, 7 months

Billy Casper 42 years, 2 months

50+ Club

50 PGA Tour wins or more:

Golfer Wins

S. Snead 82

J. Nicklaus 73

B. Hogan 64

A. Palmer 62

B. Nelson 52

B. Casper 51

T. Woods 50

[Last modified August 7, 2006, 02:04:34]