Tiger finishes in grand fashion with 11-under 61
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
PO'IPU, Kaua'i — Not since Kamehameha the Great assumed control here in a bloodless takeover has someone conquered the Garden Island as effortlessly as Tiger Woods.
Mark J. Terrill • Associated Press
Surpassing even his own usual brilliance, Woods shot a course-record 11-under 61 yesterday to capture his unprecedented fifth consecutive Grand Slam of Golf championship at Po'ipu Bay Golf Course.
Tiger Woods tees off on the No. 5, one of 11 holes he would birdie in the final round of the PGA Grand Slam of Golf. Woods' two-day total of 127 won by 14 strokes.
Woods' two-day total of 127 set another Grand Slam record, as did his 14-shot margin of victory over Justin Leonard and Davis Love III (both 72-141). Rich Beem (73—145) finished fourth.
Woods shot a 6-under 66 in Tuesday's first round to take a three-shot lead into yesterday. He began with two birdies and then had four more birdies from holes 5-8 to go out at 6-under 30 for another course record.
"Starting out, I did exactly what you need to do when you have a three-shot lead," Woods said. "I needed to go out there and play a good, solid front nine and I just got on a roll. It just kept going, making shots, aiming at my spots, and I was knocking down my putts. It's a lot of fun when everything works like that."
Woods continued his torrid pace on the back nine, making birdie on 12, 13, 15, 16 and 18 en route to completing a bogey-free tournament. The birdies on 13 and 15 were particularly spectacular. On the par-4 13th, he hit his 9-iron approach to one foot of the pin from 136 yards in wind and rain.
"That shot was ridiculously so good, you can't even believe it," said Beem. "I just sat there (and said), 'There's no way.' "
The shot even surprised Woods.
"I was just trying to hit a little 9-iron, trying to hold it back against the wind," he said. "And usually when you do that, you either upshoot it or pull it, but I hit it absolutely perfect, the way I wanted to. That's when you know things are going right."
Two holes later, Woods again wowed the gallery of about 6,400 by sticking a 6-iron shot from 180 yards to six feet of the cup. He sank the putt for another birdie.
"I just hit a little soft 6-iron, kind of cut it back against the wind," Woods said. "The wind actually switched and came back. I just hit a nice little soft cut."
With Woods hitting shots like that, Leonard, Love and Beem hardly stood a chance. After Woods opened with the two birdies, the trio could not get within five strokes the rest of the way.
"I thought I was going to take a vacation after this, but now I think I'm going to start practicing again on Friday," Leonard said.
Endless hours of practice, even at the height of his game, are what got Woods to this point. Five years ago, not long after stunning the sports world by winning The Masters by a record 12 strokes, Woods actually took his swing apart and completely rebuilt it. He noticed that the swing relied too much on perfect timing and not enough on sound mechanics.
"I spent a lot of hours hitting balls, trying to get the club on plane, and then the hard part is going out there and trusting it in competition," Woods said. "I've put in a lot of time, and it's paid off."
Woods earned $400,000 for his victory yesterday. Leonard and Love each won $225,000, and Beem received $150,000.
