Tiger Woods regained his winning ways, staying ahead of a number of big-name players to win his 76th career PGA Tour event at Doral on Sunday after shooting a 1-under 71. The win marked the 17th time he has won a World Golf Championship tournament and he continued his strong play all weekend by taking his second title of the year.
Woods had to withdraw from the event last season after suffering an injury, but this time around he was in first place from the start and never gave it up, finishing the tournament at 19-under par. According to ESPN.com, Woods has a good chance to regain his number one ranking after winning five times in the past year and he could get it back if he wins at Bay Hill. He will also be the favorite for the Masters in April.
Woods received some help during the week from Steve Stricker about his putting and he put it to good use on Sunday and throughout the tournament, making 27 birdies, which is just one of his career high. Stricker finished second behind Woods by two strokes and that left the trio of Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott and Sergio Garcia in third place.
Woods takes home the $1.5 million prize and is now 41-2 when he has the outright lead heading into the final round. Woods appears to be regaining some of the form that made everyone think he could break the all-time major championship record.
Doral will be reshaped by Donald Trump for next year and Woods used the course to his advantage, taking just 100 putts over the tournament, the lowest he has ever had in his career. The 37-year-old has some momentum after taking the Farmers Insurance Open and has now won twice this season with the Masters lurking very close ahead.
1 Tiger Woods
2 Steve Stricker
T3 Adam Scott -
T3 Sergio Garcia -
T3 Phil Mickelson
T3 Graeme McDowell
7 Keegan Bradley
T8 Rory McIlroy
T8 Justin Rose -
T8 Peter Hanson
T8 Michael Thompson
T12 Richard Sterne
T12 Charles Howell III
T12 Jason Dufner
T12 Dustin Johnson
T16 Fredrik Jacobson
T16 Charl Schwartzel
T18 Nicolas Colsaerts
T18 Bubba Watson
T20 Alexander Noren
T20 Webb Simpson
T25 Hunter Mahan -
T28 Ian Poulter
T33 Louis Oosthuizen
T35 Matt Kuchar
T35 Jim Furyk
