Woods Leads PGA Championship in Final
TULSA, Okla. – Tiger Woods has never lost a tournament when leading by more than one shot entering the final round. That’s where he stood when he teed off today in the final round of the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa.
Woods was even through five holes, and 7-under for the tournament. Woody Austin, his closest competitor, was 1-under for the day.
Woods entered the day with a 3-shot lead over Stephen Ames as he goes for his 13th career major and first of the year. He is 12-and-0 when leading or tied for the lead entering the final round of a major.
On Saturday, Woods followed his record-tying 63 at Southern Hills with a round that wasn’t anything special, but no less effective at the PGA Championship. He made 15 pars in his 1-under 69, giving him a three-shot lead over Ames going into the final round.
It felt much larger considering the history of the world’s No. 1 player.
Woods made it look as though Saturday were a Sunday afternoon and he was protecting his lead, not taking on many flags or working too hard for par. He picked up his lone birdies at Nos. 4 and 12, and had two par saves of about 10 feet on the front nine that allowed him to keep his distance from Scott Verplank and the rest of the field.
Woods finished at 7-under 203 and today is playing in the final round of a major for the third time this year. He was trailing at the Masters and U.S. Open and never caught up, but the odds are much higher in his favor of capturing his first major of the year.
Ames made a 12-foot birdie on the final hole for a 69 that put him in the final group of a major for the first time. Just his luck he gets Woods, spotting the 12-time major champion a three-shot lead.
Austin lost his chance to be in the final group when he took bogey on the final hole for a 69, leaving him at 207. Johnson Senden had a 69 and was another shot back, followed by Ernie Els.
Verplank held his own until a double bogey from the rough and trees on the signature 12th hole, and a three-putt from the back of the 18th green for bogey sent him to a 74.
For the briefest moment, the former U.S. Amateur champion from Oklahoma State pulled within one shot. Verplank dribbled an 8-foot birdie putt down the hill and into the cup at No. 4 to reach 5 under, only to watch Woods hole a 6-foot putt to match his birdie and restore the margin to two shots.
Walking to the fifth tee, Verplank smirked and said, "That guy makes everything."
It sure looked that way.
Woods atoned for a poor chip on the third with a 10-foot par save, and saved par from 10 feet again on the eighth after hitting into a bunker. His streak of 24 straight holes without a bogey ended when he hit 6-iron into the bunker on the 14th and missed from 18 feet.
He led by as many as five shots on the back nine until that bogey on 14. Even so, it was his largest lead going into the final round of a major since the 2005 Masters, which he won in a playoff over Chris DiMarco.
"If you’re trying to win a tournament like this, he’s the wrong guy to let get out ahead of you," Verplank said.
One after another, players finished their rounds, looked at the top of the leaderboard and figured it would require their best round to have any chance of winning. They have seen this before.
And so has Woods, even if he won’t concede the tournament is over.
This is only the fifth time in his career that Woods came to the final major of the year without winning one, although he arrived at Southern Hills fresh off an eight-shot victory at a World Golf Championship. But the work is not done.