Tiger Woods Shoots 62 But Rory McIlroy wins Honda Classic
Wearing red and cursing even the slightest of mistakes, Tiger Woods put together a round that was reminiscent of an age of dominance on Sunday at the Honda Classic. He destroyed the par fives; he hit that blistering stinger he once made famous; and he putted brilliantly on his way to a final round 62. It was textbook Tiger.
However, it wasn’t enough to unseat new World No. 1, Rory McIlroy.
Heeding advice from Jack Nicklaus, Rory played for par and held off the charging Woods with a methodical 69 to jump ahead of Luke Donald and stake claim to the No. 1 ranking in the world. There was a level excellence to it–befittingly regal in a way.
However, after a personal-best final round, Tiger Woods looms large with just one month until the Masters. Golf’s new king might face some serious opposition from the former World No. 1.
For weeks, Tiger Woods has struggled to pair his new and efficient Sean Foley swing with the putting stroke that led him to victories in 14 major championships, but on Sunday he put together his most complete round in quite some time. Putts that refused to fall on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday fell effortlessly on Sunday, and when Tiger needed a shot, he had it.
On his 61st stroke of the day, with Tiger desperately needing to make an eagle that would get him to 10-under and put the pressure squarely on McIlroy as he approached the Bear Trap, Tiger cut a 5-iron from 204 yards that skipped through the collar and rolled to within eight feet.
It was the shot of the tournament for Woods, and it might have made him the favorite at next week’s WGC-Cadillac Championship in Doral, where Tiger has been victorious three separate times.
Confidence has been difficult to come by for Tiger Woods in the wake of injury and his personal situation, but it should be at soaring new heights heading into familiar territory. However, moral victories won’t satisfy Woods, who hasn’t won a PGA Tour event since September of 2009 at the BMW Championship.
Tiger still desperately needs to break into the win column again, and his performance on Sunday had the looks of a precursor to something special, and even though his 62 didn’t earn him that victory, it was a major step in the right direction as Woods continues to try to find consistency in his game.
It was also a much-needed distraction from a week of rampant speculation surrounding the contents of Hank Haney’s new book, “The Big Miss.”
After an altercation with GolfWeek.com’s Alex Micelli involving an excerpt of the book where Haney claimed that Woods was prepared to quit golf to become a Navy Seal, Tiger looked unfocused and struggled his way to a 71 on Thursday. On Friday, Woods flirted with the cut line before birdieing his final two holes to make the weekend.
Then, on Saturday, Tiger couldn’t capitalize on early momentum and wound up finishing the day nine strokes back of McIlroy and the lead. However, Tiger clearly put everything together on Sunday.
Fortunately for Rory, it was too little too late. However, it does raise the interesting possibility of a McIlroy/Woods rivalry.
Obviously, it’s far too soon to declare Tiger Woods “back”, but the youth movement in golf could benefit unquestionably from a competitive Woods. With this round, Tiger is that much closer to providing exactly that, and the next few weeks should be wildly entertaining.
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