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Tiger Woods hits his tee shot on the
fourth hole during the final round of the BMW Championship golf tournament
in Lemont, Illinois, Sept. 9, 2007. Woods was in vintage form with a
flawless final-round 63 to capture the BMW Championship and become just
the fifth player to win 60 PGA Tour titles. (Xinhua/Reuters
Photo)
Photo
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BEIJING, Sept. 11 -- Tiger Woods produced a flawless
final round 63 to win his 60th career PGA Tour title by two shots at the BMW
Championship in Lemont, Illinois, on Sunday.
The win moved Woods to the top of the FedExCup
standings heading into the Tour Championships next week at the East Lake Golf
Club in Atlanta, which will be limited to the top 30 players.
The US$1.26 million winner's check pushed Woods's
career earnings over US$75 million. The 31-year-old American will have a chance
to add what is being billed as sport's single biggest pay day next week in
Atlanta where a US$10 million bonus in deferred compensation will go to the
overall points champion.
Woods's 60th victory also left him just two behind
Arnold Palmer for fourth on the all-time list.
"I never, ever would have dreamt that this would
happen so soon," Woods said after becoming just the fifth player to record 60
PGA Tour wins. "I've been out here 11 years, my 12th season and to have this
many wins ... I never could have foreseen that.
"I've exceeded my expectations and it's been a lot of
fun to enjoy that whole process to get to 60."
The world No. 1 began the day trailing third round
leaders American Steve Stricker and Australian Aaron Baddeley by a single shot
but was quickly on the charge.
A three-time winner at the Cog Hill Golf and Country
Club, Woods picked up a shot at the third to join the leaders and shifted into
top gear to reel off three consecutive birdies from the seventh.
But Woods was unable to pull away as Stricker and
Baddeley kept pace with 13 times major winner to leave all three men deadlocked
with nine to play.
Stricker and Baddeley, however, could not stay with
Woods on the back nine as he kept the pressure on with four more birdies to
match the course record 63, securing his sixth title of the season with a
tournament record winning total of 22-under 262.
Baddeley, who held a two-shot lead going into the
final round of the US Open, returned a five-under 66 to finish runner-up on
20-under 264 with Stricker (68) two strokes further adrift on 266.
Australia's Adam Scott had a final round 65 to finish
alone in fourth with South African Tim Clark (67) and Briton Justin Rose (68)
tied for fifth on 13-under 271.
Clark made a dramatic charge up the leaderboard on
the front nine, mixing seven birdies with a bogey for a 29, matching the
all-time lowest nine hole score in the championship's 104-year history.
But the South African could not sustain the momentum,
giving back two shots with a pair of bogeys after the turn.
(Source: Shanghai Daily/Agencies)
