Golf

Woods keeps it close before securing win

By BOB HARIG
Published March 26, 2007

MIAMI - The result was the same, but achieving it was a bit different. Golf's greatest closer got his foot stuck in the door he seemingly was ready to slam shut Sunday. And he needed some help to get it dislodged.

Tiger Woods let Brett Wetterich back into the CA Championship over the closing holes on the Blue Monster course at Doral, finally emerging with a two-shot victory after the upstart from Jupiter failed to convert makeable birdie putts at the 17th and 18th holes.

Woods shot 1-over 73, just the sixth time he has won with a final round over par.

It was the 56th victory of his PGA Tour career, second this year and 13th in a World Golf Championship event.

Woods won $1.35-million from the $8-million purse and will head to Augusta National for the Masters next week having won eight of his past 10 stroke-play events on the PGA Tour.

"I figured if I shot under par, it's over," said Woods, 31, who has won three straight years at Doral and three straight times in this event - all at different venues. "I struggled a little bit on the greens. I had a hard time figuring out the grain and which way it was going."

Woods entered the final round with a four-shot lead over Wetterich and appeared in control through 10 holes, leading by six, despite some poor putting and shaky driving. But on a windy day that caused fits for most of the field, nobody could make a move.

Woods didn't make a birdie the rest of the round, and had bogeys at the 11th and 13th holes. Wetterich birdied the 14th and 16th holes to pull within three strokes.

He then hit his approach to the 17th green to 8 feet - and missed the putt.

That allowed Woods to play the 18th conservatively. He hit a 3-iron off the tee at the 467-yard, par-4 hole, then laid up with an 8-iron. Wetterich struck his approach to 8 feet, and when Woods blew his wedge to the back of the green, 35 feet from the cup, there existed the possibility of a three-shot swing and a tie.

In fact, Mark Calcavecchia had putted off the green and into the water from a similar position, but Woods nestled his lag putt down to 2 feet - then Wetterich missed.

"I think the way to try to beat Tiger is you've got to put pressure on him and make him hit his shots that everyone is used to seeing," said Wetterich, 33, whose lone victory came at last year's Byron Nelson Championship. "You can't let him stroll around the whole 18 holes with a four-shot, five-shot lead the whole time. You're just not going to win."

Woods improved his record to 39-3 with a 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour, and he has never lost a lead of more than one stroke. He finished at 278, 10 under par. Wetterich shot 71, with Robert Allenby (67), Geoff Ogilvy (70) and Sergio Garcia (70) tied for third, four back.

The CA Championship is the first tournament Woods has won six times, and he has done it at six venues, Spain, Ireland, Atlanta, San Francisco, England and now Doral.

"He's good on Bermuda, good in wind, good in no wind, he's good on bent grass," said Ogilvy, the U.S. Open champion. "What do you say?"

Woods is also good at Augusta, where he has won four times.

"Well, you can't have any better way," he said. "Getting a W right before you go."

[Last modified March 26, 2007, 11:45:41]