Tiger wins WGC-Bridgestone Invitational by seven strokes
Tiger Woods cruised to a seven-stroke victory Sunday in the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. He closed with an even-par 70 to finish at 15-under 265.
Keegan Bradley and Henrik Stenson shared second at 272.
With his fifth PGA TOUR win of the year, Tiger has now won the Bridgestone Invitational and Arnold Palmer Invitational eight times. The win marked the 18th WGC triumph in 42 starts for Tiger, who has also posted 33 top-10 finishes.
Tiger extended his lead in the FedExCup point standings and money list as well.
Woods collected his 79th win in 290 career starts on the PGA TOUR, second only to Sam Snead, who has 82. Tiger improved to 53-4 when tied or leading after 54 holes. Woods has now captured five or more tournaments in a season 10 times, a PGA TOUR record.
“I don’t know what it is,” Tiger said, when asked why he always seems to play well on the South Course at Firestone. “It just fits my eye. I’ve felt comfortable here for some reason.”
Before receiving his $1.5 million first prize, Woods got a surprise visit from his 4-year-old son Charlie, whom he hugged and carried to the scorer’s trailer.
Paired with Stenson in the final twosome, Tiger began the final round with a seven-shot cushion and was never challenged. He was content to make pars and force someone to go low to catch him, a tough task given the windy conditions and challenging pin positions.
“Today, I was conservative,” Woods said. “I just wanted to make pars. This was a perfect day to protect.”
The 37-year-old Woods carded one birdie and one bogey, the latter a three-putt — his only one of the tournament — at the par-4 14th. Aside from a few errant tee shots, he was in complete control of his game and made the win look easy. Admittedly, it will bolster his confidence next week in the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y., the final major of the year.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” said Woods, a four-time winner of the PGA. “I’ve got three more days to get ready for it. I feel like my game is pretty consistent.”
Sunday’s win marked the 19th time Tiger has won his final start before entering a major championship. After the previous 18, he has followed with four wins and nine top-10 finishes.
The top-ranked Woods took the suspense out of the tournament Sunday by starting with nine consecutive pars. His lone brush with a bogey came at the par-4 first hole, when his 9-iron second shot nicked a tree and came up short of the green. Tiger chipped to four feet and made the putt.
Woods two-putted the next eight holes for pars and made the turn in even-par 35, exactly the way he drew it up.
Tiger made his lone birdie at the par-4 10th hole, where he hit a sand wedge from 117 yards to seven feet below the cup and made the putt. He did make a nice par-save at the par-4 11th, where his approach shot rolled over the green against the back collar. Turning his putter sideways, Woods hit the ball with the end of his putter head, running it five feet past the hole, but converted his par putt.
Following the three-putt, Tiger parred the last four holes.
“It’s tough to give Tiger that many shots,” Bradley said. “I hate to sit here and go on and on about how good he is, but he is.”
