Golf across the globe: Woods dominates again

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The greatness of Tiger Woods crosses country borders, language barriers and miles and miles of ocean. His performance on Sunday was viewed by people all over the world and likely wowed every one of them. What else happened in the world of golf last week?

LAST WEEK:

Tiger Woods gets excited over his most recent win. (Lyons/Getty Images)

Schedules

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Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard
Sanctioned by: PGA TOUR
• Do you realize that Tiger Woods hasn't lost in six months? With a record like that, he wasn't going to let a measly 25-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole stop him from capturing his fifth win at Bay Hill. Everyone watching him -- from Brad Bryant, who would have gotten into a playoff if Woods missed it, to Arnold Palmer himself -- knew that Woods would probably sink that putt. And boy did he ever. Even Woods threw his hat in celebration as he took his fifth straight PGA TOUR title and tied the legendary Ben Hogan at 64 career victories.
• Bryant, the 2008 Arnold Palmer Invitational runner-up, didn't need to watch Woods win to know that his playoff chances -- and the putt -- were sunk. Sitting in the scoring trailer, Bryant felt the roar of the crowd and could only laugh as he became next answer to the question: Who has had their hopes suddenly dashed by a miraculous shot from Woods? "That's why he's Tiger Woods," Bryant said after Woods' amazing putt. Still, it wasn't a bad week for the 45-year-old Bryant, who jumped from 75th to 17th in FedExCup points.
• Several players from around the world performed well at Arnie's event, including Fijian Vijay Singh (tied for third), German Alex Cejka (tied for eighth), Sweden's Niclas Fasth (tied for eighth) and England's Lee Westwood (tied for 17th). Most of those international players will head a few hours south for the World Golf Championships-CA Championship, the final leg of a tough Florida Swing.

Ballantine's Championship
Co-sanctioned by: European Tour, Asian Tour

• The inaugural Ballantine's Championships is now in the record books and the first champion Graeme McDowell will wear the crown for a year. He and Jeev Milkha Singh tied in regulation at -- get this -- an impressive 24-under par and took it to extra holes to determine the winner. On their third go-around at No. 18, Singh's approach shot landed within six feet of the hole. Not one to bow to pressure, McDowell rose to the occasion, hit his 7-iron to within a mere foot of the pin and sank his birdie try when Singh couldn't convert his.
• Don't feel sorry for Singh. The loss had a silver lining -- both he and McDowell earned spots in the CA Championship based on their performance. McDowell jumped from 94th to 59th in the Official World Golf Ranking while Singh moved 21 spots up to No. 79. Welcome to Miami boys.

MasterCard Classic Honoring Alejo Peralta Presented by Nextel
Sanctioned by: LPGA

• Michael Jordan famously gave one of the best performances of his career while suffering from a vicious attack of the flu in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals. Ask Louise Friberg if she knows something about that. The LPGA rookie was so sick from the flu on Saturday night that she took medicine and went to bed early prior to the final round in Huixquilucan, Mexico. She was tied for 22nd after two rounds, 1-over par heading into Sunday and fighting off a nasty bug. Even she was surprised to capture her first LPGA title: "I wasn't expecting to win at 6-under. I thought my last putt on 18 would make me finish second," said Friberg, who had to wait for the eight groups behind her to finish before she got to celebrate her first win.
• Friberg beat Yani Tseng, the 36-hole leader, by making six birdies, an eagle and just one bogey for a career-low tying round of 65. The win was the first by a rookie since Julieta Granada in 2006.
• Lorena Ochoa, playing in her home country of Mexico, overcame an opening-round 76 with subsequent rounds of 70 and 68 to finish inside the top 10 and continue her Tiger Woods-esque domination. Ochoa tied for eighth, making it her 11th top-10 finish in the last 12 events she's played since July.

THIS WEEK:

World Golf Championships-CA Championship
Co-sanctioned by: PGA TOUR, European Tour, Asian Tour, Japan Golf Tour, PGA TOUR of Australasia, Sunshine Tour

Graeme McDowell wins the Ballantine's Championship. (Heathcote/Getty Images)

• Tiger Woods is in the field. Need we say more? He's the favorite every week but it's nearly unfathomable to think that he will lose at Doral. He wins 55 percent clip of the time in World Golf Championships events and has captured six titles in the World Golf Championships-CA Championship. Yes, he's just that good.
• Who else stands a chance? Aussie Adam Scott was runner-up to Woods in the 2006 event and is seeking a little revenge as he also prepares to defend his last PGA TOUR title at the Shell Houston Open in two weeks.
• Graeme McDowell shares a unique distinction with Mr. Woods this week -- he also won on Sunday in a truly dramatic fashion. The Northern Irishman is arguably one of the hottest players taking on the Blue Course at Doral and could get lucky and find the pot of gold for the second straight time this St. Patrick's Day week.
• We're singing the praises of the Singhs after last week. Jeev M. Singh and Vijay Singh (no relation) both finished inside the top three in their respective events immediately preceding the World Golf Championships-CA Championship. Could they swing their way into victory in Miami?

Puerto Rico Open
Sanctioned by: PGA TOUR

• For the first time the PGA TOUR will hold a full-field sanctioned event in Puerto Rico. The course was designed by Tom Kite, a Champions Tour regular and PGA TOUR veteran who received a sponsor exemption into the field. The World Golf Hall of Fame member hasn't made a cut on the PGA TOUR since the Booz Allen Classic in June 2005 but has won twice on the Champions Tour since then.
• Brian Gay hopes to earn his second victory in an opposite field event this week. He took home the title at the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun and is in Puerto Rico this week. He missed the cut at the PODS Championship, his first event post-win, but tied for 21st at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week.
• Other notables in the field include second generation golfers Brent Geiberger (son of Al), Bill Haas (son of Jay) and Kevin Stadler (son of Craig).

Madeira Islands Open BPI -- Portugal
Sanctioned by: European Tour
• Newcomers to the Portugal event will like this stat: four of the last eight champions have earned their first European Tour victory on the Madeira Islands. Niclas Fasth won his first tournament there in 2000 and now finds himself at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship, the other event taking place for the European Tour this week.
• Bradley Dredge, the 2003 winner by a whopping eight strokes, seems to like Portugal -- he and fellow Welshman Stephen Dodd captured the World Cup there in 2005. Dredge, Dodd and other European Tour members will head to Santo da Serra this week for the event.

NEXT WEEK:

• Lorena Ochoa -- of course -- defends her title at Superstition Mountain in Arizona for the Safeway International presented by Coca-Cola. The LPGA is off this week but resumes next week.
• Beads, beverages and birdies abound in N'awlins when defending champion Nick Watney and the PGA TOUR head over for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
• The Mapfre Open de Andalucia by Valle Romano in Spain will occur on the European Tour. Past winners include 2007 Open Championship winner Padraig Harrington, two-time winner Miguel Angel Jimenez, Jose Maria Olazabal, Alex Cejka and Vijay Singh.
• Asian Tour players will attempt to qualify in Singapore for the Open Championship.