Tiger Woods made golf history with his seventh consecutive PGA Tour win and third consecutive Buick Invitational title at La Jolla’s Torrey Pines Golf Course Sunday, Jan 28.
“I felt like I played well (Sunday). I had to,” Woods said. “I knew if somehow I could work my way up the (leader) board and put heat on these guys, I had experience in hand.”
While rookies excelled throughout the four-day tournament for a piece of the lead, Woods showed his mastery of the game under incredible pressure.
Coming from behind and making shots when he had to, Woods grew stronger on Sunday and played with confidence while the others faltered.
“I made a terrible bogey on seven, then got it back with a birdie on eight,” Woods continued. “Nine was huge. I made this bomb, and all-of-a-sudden I was tied for the lead.”
Woods eagled the 548-yard par 5 ninth hole on Torrey Pines South and went on to win by two strokes. He claimed $918,000 of the $5.2 million purse.
He shot a 66 on the first and last days of the tournament on the par 72 north and south courses for a 273 total. No one shot a better round on the final day.
It was Woods 55th career victory since turning pro in 1996.
A Southern California native, Woods has applied his knowledge of Torrey Pines to win five times: 1999, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007.
Charles Howell III of Georgia was second after shooting a 68 on Sunday to finish at 275.
Rookies often jump out on the first day and make a splash, especially at Torrey Pines where the north course is significantly easier than the south course, which is the longest on the PGA tour.
But new tour-card holder Brandt Snedeker of Tennessee earned the admiration of every golf fan as he opened with a 61 on Thursday and stayed in contention over all four days to finish third at 276.
Bubba Watson of Florida finished fourth, tied with Mark Calcavecchia of Nebraska and Aussie Andrew Buckle at 11 under par.
Local favorite Phil Mickelson finished at a disappointing 2 over par. He delivered a 66 on Friday but was unable to maintain the pace on the weekend.
Craig Stadler’s son Kevin finished at 5 under par. Poway standout Charley Hoffman finished at 4 under. Buick 1997 winner Mark O’Meara finished at 3 under.
The Torrey Pines south course has been made extremely difficult in preparation for hosting the 2008 US Open.
In 2008, the Buick Invitational will be held in La Jolla during January, as usual. But the PGA Tour will be back that year on June 12. The prestigious open event will be hosted on a municipal course for only the second time in tour history.
The San Diego Century Club hosted the Buick Invitational. Local charities and youth programs were also big winners due to the efforts and generosity of the Century Club and hundreds of volunteers.
Tournament information is available at www.buickinvitational.com.