DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Tiger Woods hardly missed a fairway, a big improvement. Luke Donald hardly missed a putt, and that was far more rewarding Thursday at the Memorial.
Donald set a tournament record by taking only 20 putts, which allowed him to tie a tournament record by opening with an 8-under 64 and a three-shot lead over a group that included Jim Furyk and Jason Day, who bogeyed his last two holes.
What seemed like a normal round at Muirfield Village turned extraordinary for Donald when he rapped in a 12-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the par-3 eighth hole, starting a streak of six consecutive birdies. He one-putted nine straight holes until a routine par on the 18th hole to match the lowest opening round at the Memorial.
"That doesn't happen very often," Donald said.
Even rarer is the sight of Woods spending so much time in the middle of the fairway.
Woods went with a slightly higher loft in his driver (10 degrees) and continued to make strides with his swing. He didn't miss a fairway until his 3-wood on the 18th hole deflected off a tree and landed in a bunker.
Scoring starts with the putter, however. Woods missed an 8-foot par putt on the final hole, and his other bogey came on a three-putt at the 13th. He had to settle for a 69, and few complaints.
"Everything felt pretty good to some degree," Woods said. "My swing felt good. Even my putting stroke felt good. A couple of bad pitches here and there, but overall, I felt like I controlled the ball well all day. With the wind blowing like this, you have to hit it flush. I did that all day. I didn't miss any shots."
Furyk, who won the Memorial seven years ago, birdied three of his final four holes for a 67. He was joined by Ted Purdy, Thomas Aiken and Day, the 21-year-old Australian who missed a playoff by one shot last week at Colonial. Day was at 7 under with three holes to play, but made bogey from the bunkers on his final two holes.
All of them were chasing Donald throughout a day that began cool and breezy and became warm and blustery.
Donald, who had only two sub-70 rounds at Muirfield Village, hit the opening tee shot and made bogey. He was headed for another bogey on the second hole until he chipped in from 80 feet short of the green.
"I guess all good rounds start with a bogey," he said. "It was just kind of a normal, everyday round until I got to the eighth and made a nice putt from the fringe. That kind of sparked off a run of six birdies. Just really got on a hot streak."
He made eight birdies over the last 11 holes. And his score was an eyesore for those teeing off in the afternoon.
"That's rough when you walk to the first tee and you're already eight behind," defending champion Kenny Perry. He finished the day eight shots behind after two late bogeys have him a 72.
Stewart Cink was among those at 68, while those at 69 with Woods included Mike Weir and British Amateur champion Reinier Saxton.
Donald felt putting was his weakness when he joined the PGA Tour. He has been working on fundamentals, and even switched to a mallet putter. He now is No. 1 in putting on the PGA Tour, and his success is no secret.
"You start putting well, and you start believing in yourself a little bit," Donald said. "Confidence on the greens breeds confidence. You keep making more putts. I think putting is very mental. Once you feel like you're a good putter, then it becomes easier."
Woods has a streak of 16 consecutive top 10s in stroke play, but scrutiny followed him home from The Players Championship last week because he played in the final group and couldn't break par.
He has said he is still making adjustments because of surgery last year on his left knee, and has said for the last month that he is still missing his power. But he is back to hitting balls on the range, which is where he could be found late Thursday afternoon. And he painted an optimistic view of his immediate future.
"The swing is starting to come around," he said. "I'm starting to feel good now. It's been a long time. I'm starting to get my power back. Everything is starting to come around now."
Even so, hitting 13 fairways can be misleading because Muirfield Village is known for its generous fairways. The key is putting on some of the purest greens on tour, and Donald had that part figured out just fine.
by the associated press
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Showing posts with label Tiger Woods. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tiger Woods. Show all posts
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Stenson shoots 66
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Henrik Stenson kept bogeys off his card and clothes on his body, earning fame Sunday for a flawless round of golf and a surprising blowout victory in The Players Championship.
Stenson wondered if he would be known best for stripping to his underwear to play out of a water hazard at Doral.
This didn't make for great pictures, but it was close to perfection.
The 33-year-old Swede shot a 6-under 66 and was the only player without a bogey in the final round on a treacherous TPC Sawgrass course that featured firm, fast conditions rarely seen this side of a major.
Trailing by five shots, he took advantage of a swift collapse by Alex Cejka, joined the leaders with a birdie from just short of the seventh green and pulled away with a 32 on the back nine when the only drama was the margin of victory.
He wound up four shots clear of Ryder Cup teammate Ian Poulter, who shot a 70 for his best finish ever on the PGA Tour.
Tiger Woods played in the last group and was never a factor.
He was part of the six-way tie that included Stenson, and even as Cejka faltered to a 42 on the front nine, Woods couldn't take advantage. He finished with a 1-over 73 to finish alone in eighth. It was his first top 10 at The Players Championship since he won in 2001, and it kept alive his streak of 16 consecutive stroke-play events in the top 10 worldwide.
Stenson, who won for the 10th time in his career worldwide, finished at 12-under 276 and earned $1.71 million. He will move to No. 5 in the world ranking.
It was the second-largest comeback at The Players Championship, and matched the largest rally on the Stadium Course. Justin Leonard also came from five shots behind to win in 1998.
Cejka lost his lead in four holes after going at the flag from a bunker and watched his ball carom off the bulkhead and into the water. He made only one birdie and shot a 79.
John Mallinger (70) and Kevin Na (70) tied for third. They were among a dozen players who had hopes of winning on the back nine, one of the most unpredictable stretches in golf.
Stenson, a Swede who shows little emotion even when playing in his skivvies, never gave anyone much hope.
Davis Love III also played bogey-free for a 64 when he rallied to victory in blustery conditions, although the course was softened by rain. Stenson, playing in the third-to-last group, matched the lowest round of the day, nearly 7.5 strokes better than the field average.
He missed only one fairway.
The only times he came remotely close to a bogey, he holed par putts of 8 feet on the front nine.
Stenson joined the leaders at 7 under with his 15-foot birdie from just off the seventh green — Ben Crane, Retief Goosen and Poulter also were atop the board — then took the outright lead with a two-putt from 55 feet on the fringe at the par-5 ninth.
"I was thinking this that if I could finish in front of Tiger, that might be good enough," Poulter said. "But I wasn't expecting someone to go out there and shoot 66."
Woods pulled his tee shot on the par-5 second into the trees, the ball dropping to the pine straw. He hit his next shot into the water and took bogey, then dropped more shots by hitting into the rough on No. 4 and laying up short of the water, and by hitting into a pot bunker at No. 7 that forced him to play out sideways.
It was rare to see Woods, decked out in his Sunday red, playing in a final group with nothing at stake over the final holes.
The way Stenson was playing, it didn't matter what anyone was doing.
He stretched his lead with a pitching wedge into 2 1/2 feet for birdie on the 15th, then two-putted for another birdie on the 16th, taking some of the fear factor from standing on the 17th tee, staring at an island.
Once his ball found land, it was over.
"I could afford to go bogey-bogey and still win it," Stenson said. "That's always a handy situation to be in."
With the victory comes a three-year exemption to the Masters and a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour if he wants it.
(This version CORRECTS Corrects in 5th and 17th graf to a putt sted chip-in; Optional upcoming.)
by the associated press
Stenson wondered if he would be known best for stripping to his underwear to play out of a water hazard at Doral.
This didn't make for great pictures, but it was close to perfection.
The 33-year-old Swede shot a 6-under 66 and was the only player without a bogey in the final round on a treacherous TPC Sawgrass course that featured firm, fast conditions rarely seen this side of a major.
Trailing by five shots, he took advantage of a swift collapse by Alex Cejka, joined the leaders with a birdie from just short of the seventh green and pulled away with a 32 on the back nine when the only drama was the margin of victory.
He wound up four shots clear of Ryder Cup teammate Ian Poulter, who shot a 70 for his best finish ever on the PGA Tour.
Tiger Woods played in the last group and was never a factor.
He was part of the six-way tie that included Stenson, and even as Cejka faltered to a 42 on the front nine, Woods couldn't take advantage. He finished with a 1-over 73 to finish alone in eighth. It was his first top 10 at The Players Championship since he won in 2001, and it kept alive his streak of 16 consecutive stroke-play events in the top 10 worldwide.
Stenson, who won for the 10th time in his career worldwide, finished at 12-under 276 and earned $1.71 million. He will move to No. 5 in the world ranking.
It was the second-largest comeback at The Players Championship, and matched the largest rally on the Stadium Course. Justin Leonard also came from five shots behind to win in 1998.
Cejka lost his lead in four holes after going at the flag from a bunker and watched his ball carom off the bulkhead and into the water. He made only one birdie and shot a 79.
John Mallinger (70) and Kevin Na (70) tied for third. They were among a dozen players who had hopes of winning on the back nine, one of the most unpredictable stretches in golf.
Stenson, a Swede who shows little emotion even when playing in his skivvies, never gave anyone much hope.
Davis Love III also played bogey-free for a 64 when he rallied to victory in blustery conditions, although the course was softened by rain. Stenson, playing in the third-to-last group, matched the lowest round of the day, nearly 7.5 strokes better than the field average.
He missed only one fairway.
The only times he came remotely close to a bogey, he holed par putts of 8 feet on the front nine.
Stenson joined the leaders at 7 under with his 15-foot birdie from just off the seventh green — Ben Crane, Retief Goosen and Poulter also were atop the board — then took the outright lead with a two-putt from 55 feet on the fringe at the par-5 ninth.
"I was thinking this that if I could finish in front of Tiger, that might be good enough," Poulter said. "But I wasn't expecting someone to go out there and shoot 66."
Woods pulled his tee shot on the par-5 second into the trees, the ball dropping to the pine straw. He hit his next shot into the water and took bogey, then dropped more shots by hitting into the rough on No. 4 and laying up short of the water, and by hitting into a pot bunker at No. 7 that forced him to play out sideways.
It was rare to see Woods, decked out in his Sunday red, playing in a final group with nothing at stake over the final holes.
The way Stenson was playing, it didn't matter what anyone was doing.
He stretched his lead with a pitching wedge into 2 1/2 feet for birdie on the 15th, then two-putted for another birdie on the 16th, taking some of the fear factor from standing on the 17th tee, staring at an island.
Once his ball found land, it was over.
"I could afford to go bogey-bogey and still win it," Stenson said. "That's always a handy situation to be in."
With the victory comes a three-year exemption to the Masters and a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour if he wants it.
(This version CORRECTS Corrects in 5th and 17th graf to a putt sted chip-in; Optional upcoming.)
by the associated press
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