Tiger Woods watches his shot from the 8th tee box during the Buick Open at Warwick Hills in Grand Blanc, Michigan, the United States, on Sunday. SD-Agencies
TIGER WOODS shot a 69 Sunday and coasted to a three-shot victory with a 20-under 268 at the Buick Open for the 69th PGA Tour title of his career.
Woods was tied for 96th place after the opening day in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, and then shot rounds of 63, 65 and 69 to surge past a field that included only one other player in the top 30 of golf’s Official World Ranking.
It’s the 69th career U.S. PGA Tour title for Woods, who finished at 20-under par for the tournament, three better than Roland Thatcher, Greg Chalmers and John Senden. He receives US$900,000 for the victory, his fourth in 11 starts this year and his third at the Buick Open, which he last played in 2006.
“I’ve been here since 1999 and I’ve always enjoyed coming,” Woods said at a news conference. “The only two years I haven’t played here is because of the birth of my child (in 2007), and my knee wasn’t very good last year.”
Woods ended his nine-year sponsorship ties with Buick in 2008 as the General Motors Corp. brand sought to reduce marketing expenses. According to Golfweek magazine, the automaker is also ending its sponsorship of the tournament, which was held about an hour’s drive from the company’s headquarters in Detroit. Buick’s sponsorship of the US$5.1 million event was the longest-running partnership on the PGA Tour.
Golfweek said last week that the tour would announce a replacement tournament and sponsor later this week. Woods threw his ball into the crowd at Warrick Hills Golf and Country Club after the final two holes.
At the British Open two weeks ago in Scotland, Woods missed the 36-hole cut for just the second time in a major tournament.
Returning to the Buick Open for the first time since his second win at the event, Woods opened with a 1-under 71 that left him eight strokes off the lead.
The world’s top-ranked player said he never considered he might miss consecutive cuts for the first time as a professional and fired a 9-under 63 in the second round to get back into contention. (SD-Agencies)