Tiger Woods Claims 69th PGA Tour Victory

Tiger Woods has won his 69th PGA Tour golf event at the Buick Open by three strokes over the rest of the field. This is Woods' third Buick Open victory, the other two being in 2002 and 2006. The win at the Buick Open is Tiger's fourth of the year, twice more than anyone on the Tour, in only 11 starts this season since returning from his knee injury. All of the wins this year for Tiger have come two weeks before a major championship. Woods is third on the all-time wins list with 69, only trailing Jack Nicklaus (73) and Sam Snead (82).

After shooting an opening round 71, Tiger was in danger of missing the cut in his second straight event. Woods was one-under par after one round, seven shots behind the leader, and tied for 95th place. Woods said after the first round that he had his worst putting day of the year for him.

All of Tiger's misfortunes changed in the second round. Woods had his best round of the entire year, shooting six-under in his first five holes, for a second-round 63, nine-under par. In his second round, Tiger had a total of eight birdies, one eagle, and one bogey. This instantly put Tiger back into contention and within striking distance of the leaders.

Tiger followed up his great second round with another solid third round, posting a third-round 65, seven-under par and was the overall leader after three rounds with a seventeen-under par 199 total score. After three rounds, Woods was one stroke ahead of two competitors. This was important as Woods was 35-1 in his career when he has the outright lead after 54 holes.

It seems that Tiger does not feel any pressure in the final round of an event, unlike many other golfers. Woods shot a final round 69, birdieing three holes, with no bogeys, and 15 pars. Woods finished the tournament with a 20-under 268 for the three-stroke victory. There was a three-way tie for second place, with Roland Thatcher, Greg Chalmers, and John Senden, all with 17-under par.

Woods will next play at the Bridgestone Invitational, which takes place next week, before going to Hazeltine, to play in the final major of the year, the PGA Championship, in two weeks. Woods is still looking for his first major of the year, his best finish being a tie for sixth place at the Masters and the US Open. Tiger missed the cut at the British Open, only the second time that has happened at a major.