Tiger Woods executed his game plan perfectly despite trailing Francesco Molinari by two before stretching his lead when Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka came roaring back. These are the key moments to his victory, as selected by WADE PRETORIUS.
The world was watching Woods’ win. In case you weren’t, or you just want to relive the highlights, here’s a look at five key shots from Sunday.
Two putting for par at the ninth
With Molinari unflappable – at this point – Tiger faced a 70-foot birdie putt on the tricky ninth green. Downhill and breaking off the shoulder down to the left, he not only got away with a par, but nearly lagged his ball into the bottom of the cup. For his heroics, a three-putt would’ve handed the momentum to the leader, but instead, he was buoyed by saving par and almost producing one of the all-time great putts.
Approach into 11
A wayward drive left Tiger only the tiniest of gaps through the trees to a green guarded by water short and left. A 7-iron from 178 yards being two shots back… a lot could’ve gone wrong but for his excellent stroke-making.
Second into 15
One could argue this was the most important shot of the final round. Now tied for the lead, Woods was left with 234 yards to an almost unfairly small green. Miss short – water, miss long – difficult up and down. He stepped up and found the middle of the green, which led to a two-putt and the outright lead. The air was thick with inevitability…
Near ace on 16
The shot was superb… an 8-iron into the perfect spot on a green that had already offered up two aces. His ball somehow stayed out of the hole, but a tap-in birdie to go two in front with two to play was pivotal into giving him the confidence to go aggressively off both the remaining tee boxes. In front of him, it heaped pressure on Dustin Johnson who promptly failed with his birdie at the last under the gaze of the large scoreboard that looks on to the green.
