Pakistan Today

Woods wins in Miami for 76th Tour title

Former world number one Tiger Woods picked up his biggest victory since 2009 after winning the WGC-Cadillac Championship in Miami.

The American finished on 19 under par, after a final round 71, to claim his 76th PGA Tour victory and his 17th World Golf Championship title.

He finished two shots clear of Steve Stricker, while Graeme McDowell, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott and Sergio Garcia finished on 14 under.

The final round saw a welcome return to form for world number one Rory McIlroy who finished eighth after a final round 65.

McIlroy was on fire and flew up the leaderboard. The Northern Irishman began perfectly after an eagle on the first followed by birdies at five, 10, 11, 16 and 17.

“I’m quite happy with where my game is at compared to where it was at the start of the week,” McIlroy told Sky Sports 2.

“There is quite a bit to go, but scores like today and shots like that over the last three days definitely give me confidence.

“I limited the mistakes. I made a lot of birdies and eagles but I made a lot of bogeys too.

“I’m a lot happier with where my game is and a lot happier for the next few weeks.”

McIlroy will make just one more start before the Masters in April, but after a solid end to the tournament he was in no mood to alter his preparation.

Woods will go in the first major of the year full of confidence after he won the event for a seventh time.

The 37-year-old was firmly focused on winning in Miami. An impressive 19 footer on the second seemed to kickstart his round, and although an accurate approach on the third left him with a good shot at another birdie his putt ended up just to the left of the hole.

However, at the fourth he made no mistake with the putter for his 26th birdie of the week. A wayward shot on the eighth saw him in woodland before another recovery led to par.

A birdie at 10 extended Woods’ lead to six, while a two-putt at 12 made little difference to the outcome.

After finding the sand at 16 Woods then found the rough before holing a bogey for his first dropped shot of the round.

Another poor tee shot meant little on the last as he finished with another bogey.

Second-placed Stricker lost ground after a bogey on three, before moving back to 15 under with birdies at five and six, while others around dropped their game, Stricker upped his eight under par efforts at 10 and 13.

McDowell birdied the opening two, but he was in trouble after finding the bunker twice on five to drop back to 15 under.

He missed a good opportunity to close the gap on Woods when a mid-range putt just missed on the eighth hole.

A bogey at 11 was erased by a chip-in at 13, while a birdie at 17 was cancelled out by a horrible double bogey on the last.

Garcia had a solid final round with three birdies on the back nine soured by a bogey on the last to add to his his birdie four on the first.

Mickelson made a fantastic start with birdies at one and two, but he dropped a shot on three after missing a relatively simple par putt.

The four-time major winner made up for it on five, before an accurate approach on the eighth set up a birdie.

Mickelson got sloppy with dropped shots on the ninth then 11th ending his challenge, as he shot a 71.

Scott’s blemish-free final round saw him finish with eight birdies and 64, in what was his best round of the week.

 

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