Wachovia Championship Wrapup
The Wachovia Championship had all 10 of the Top-10 and 27 of the Top-30 golfers in its field this week, but it was only the #1 that counted.
Tiger Woods started the final round one stroke behind Rory Sabbatini and within three holes that lead was gone. But the win for the world’s #1 ranked player, as everything is at Quail Hollow, was never definite.
Woods birdied the fourth hole to tie Sabbatini and three holes later did his regular Tiger thing.
Tiger missed the fairway off the tee on the par-5 7th and left himself a second shot from the rough to a tucked pin. By sheer strength, Woods muscled his second shot out of the rough onto the green and gave himself a chance, albeit a long chance, at eagle. His 60 foot putt rolled and rolled and rolled some more until it landed in the cup for a two stroke lead which led to an emphatic fist-pump...true Tiger fashion.
Woods held a three stroke lead with six holes to play and with that kind of lead the people at Wachovia should have just slipped that royal blue jacket on him then. But, Quail Hollow showed its finely sharpened teeth on the treacherous back nine.
Sabbatini could not challenge Woods on the back nine when he shot a two over 38.
Vijay Singh briefly held the lead early in the 4th round, but two late bogeys and a triple bogey on the most difficult hole on the course, the par-4 18th, led to a 74 and a tie for seventh place with Aaron Oberholser and Ken Duke.
The only player to mount a challenge to Woods was Steve Stricker. After a lengthy birdie on the par-3 17th, Stricker cut Woods’ lead to one stroke after Woods’ would be bogey. But, Stricker bogeyed the 18th to give Woods a two stroke cushion on the final hole.
But a two stroke lead is not that much on the 18th hole at Quail Hollow. A narrow, maybe ten foot wide, hazard lines the left side of the hole and it is amazingly dangerous. Vijay Sing not only put his tee shot into the water, he also landed his approach shot into the hazard leading to a triple bogey.
Woods made sure to stay clear of the hazard, way clear. His tee shot perfectly found the right side of the fairway and his approach shot perfectly found the gallery right of the green. Even with the hazard in the distance, Woods chipped onto the green and made his par for a two stroke victory to successfully avert the pitfalls of Quail Hollow
The win was the 57th in Woods’ career, now only five behind Arnold Palmer on the career wins list, and moved himself into first place in the FedEx Cup standings. This was Woods’ third win in only six starts this year.
This week the PGA Tour travels to Florida to play the newly redesigned TPC Sawgrass for the Players Championship. Check-in all week with hookedongolf.com for coverage and results.
