Round 4 Notes: Buick Open

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Aug. 2, 2009
By Mark Williams, PGA TOUR Staff

• With wins in 2002, 2006 & 2009, Tiger Woods joins Vijay Singh as the only three-time winners of the Buick Open and is one of five multiple winners of the tournament (3 wins-Singh, Woods; 2 wins-Tony Lema, Julius Boros, Kenny Perry).

• With rounds of 71-63-65-69 this week, Woods has now recorded all 36 rounds at Warwick Hills with par-or-better scores. He opened his career at the Buick Open with an even-par 72, and has since reeled off 35 under-par rounds.

• Woods has made the cut in all nine starts at the Buick Open, with a T11 finish in 2000 his worst outing. He now has seven top-4 finishes in nine starts (2009-1, 2006-1, 2005-T2, 2004-T3, 2003-T2, 2002-1, 1998-T4).

• Woods posted a 1-under 71 and was T95 on Thursday, representing his worst position after the opening round of any tournament he eventually won. Previously it was a T83 start en route to victory at the 1996 Las Vegas Invitational.

• Woods becomes the 50th winner of the Buick Open, a total which includes unofficial winners from 1972-76. Woods also recorded his 50th career win at the 2006 Buick Open.

• Woods now has four victories this season -- twice as many as the six other multiple winners on TOUR, Zach Johnson, Geoff Ogilvy, Brian Gay, Steve Stricker, Perry and Phil Mickelson, all with two wins.

• Woods has won 47 of 50 times when holding the 54-hole lead/co-lead. This includes the 1997 Mercedes Championships, when he slept on the 54-hole lead before weather forced the cancellation of the final round. Woods then defeated Tom Lehman on the first hole of a playoff. The three times he didn't win -- T5/1996 Quad City Open, 2/2000 and 2004 THE TOUR Championship.

• The 54-hole leader/co-leader has won 19 of 32 events on the 2009 PGA TOUR. At the Buick Open, the third-round leader/co-leader has won 21 of 45 times, including seven out of the last nine. This does not include unofficial events held from 1972-76.

• Woods' statistics for the week:

Numbers Rank
Fairways Hit 30/56-54% T30
Greens in Regulation 57/72-79% T6
Putts Per Round 28.5 T22
Driving Distance 303.9 25

Michael Letzig (73/T6) and Woods (69/1st) were paired together on Sunday for the second time this year. During the final round of the Memorial Tournament, Woods shot 65 to win, while Letzig posted 75 to finish 14th.

Roland Thatcher shot a bogey-free 8-under 64 in the final round to finish T2 and earn $380,800 enabling him to continue playing the remainder of the season on a Major Medical Extension. Thatcher made the cut in seven of 15 events in 2008 before a right wrist injury sidelined him in May. He eventually underwent arthroscopic surgery and didn't touch a club for eight months. Thatcher had 13 events this year (the Buick Open is his 10th) to earn $407,540, which coupled with earnings of $445,212 in 2008 will equal No. 125 from the 2008 money list.

• Thatcher jumped 66 spots to make the biggest move on the FedExCup standings this week, advancing from No. 174 to No. 108.

• Thatcher led the field this week with 24 birdies, one more than winner Woods, Paul Goydos and Vaughn Taylor.

Greg Chalmers (66-68-69-68/T2) was the only player in the field to post all four rounds in the 60s. Chalmers recorded his best finish since a T4 at the 2009 Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popular. His T2 here equals his career-best T2 at the 2000 Kemper Insurance Open.

John Senden (70/T2), the 36-hole leader, recorded his best finish on TOUR since a T2 at the 2008 Transitions Championship.

• Y.E. Yang (67/5th) was bogey-free on Sunday in recording his best finish since winning The Honda Classic in March this year.

• Since 1984, the only international player to break into the winner's circle at Warwick Hills has been Singh (1997, 2004, 2005). The leading international players this year were Australians Chalmers and Senden, who tied for second place. Yang (67/5th), from South Korea, was the only other international player to finish in the top 10.

• Letzig, a 2007 Nationwide Tour graduate making his 50th PGA TOUR start this week, finished T12 at the 2008 Buick Open (his only previous start here) with four rounds in the 60s (69-67-69-69). After 67-65-68 in the first three rounds, Letzig was attempting to join Jim Furyk and Woods with the most consecutive rounds under 70 (8) at the Buick Open before his final-round 73 halted his run.

Woody Austin, the 1995 Buick Open champion, had posted two consecutive runner-up finishes at the tournament (2007-08) before a T8 this week and is making his 15th start at the Buick Open. He has seven top-10s (1-1995, T2-2008, T2-2007, T3-1996, T4-2000, T7-2006, T8-2009) and 11 top-25 finishes.

• Taylor (T8) posted his season-best finish and heads to next week's Legends Reno-Tahoe Open, where he is a two-time champion (2004, 05), with his confidence high. Taylor advanced from No. 132 to No. 111 in the FedExCup standings with just three weeks remaining before the FedExCup Playoffs begin at The Barclays (August 24-30).

Brian Vranesh (67/T8) was 6-under in a five-hole stretch (Nos. 10-14) going birdie, par, birdie, eagle, eagle.

• Vranesh, a TOUR rookie after successfully making it through all three stages of the 2008 Qualifying Tournament, made his third cut in 15 starts this season posting his career-best finish, and first top-10, on the PGA TOUR. Vranesh finished T69 at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and T39 at the St. Jude Classic presented by FedEx.

Jason Day (70/T28) and Vranesh (67/T8) both recorded back-to-back eagles at Nos. 13 and 14. The last time this feat was achieved was the 2006 Booz Allen Classic where both Robert Allenby and Craig Barlow scored back-to-back eagles on the same holes (Nos. 5 and 6) in the same round (Round 4). However, the last time two players scored back-to-back eagles in the same tournament was the 2007 Bob Hope Classic, although on different courses in different rounds (Bernhard Langer/Round 3/Nos. 7 and 8/Bermuda Dunes, Kirk Triplett/Round 4/Nos. 5 and 6/La Quinta).

Justin Leonard (67/T14) posted seven birdies in an eight-hole stretch (Nos. 9-16), along with a bogey at the 11th, and did his Presidents Cup aspirations no harm at all. Leonard was No. 10 on the standings before the week began and will likely remain in that position. The top 10 players from both the U.S. and International Teams to contest the Cup will be determined following the PGA Championship in two weeks time. The 12-man teams will be rounded out by two Captains Choices per team.

• Furyk (T25) posted 70 on Sunday, continuing his amazing track record at Warwick Hills, with par-or-better scores in 59 of 60 rounds (98.33 percent) at the Buick Open, including a current streak of 45 straight. His only over-par effort was 3-over 75 in third round in 1997.

Matt Bettencourt (78/T46) started the final round tied for fourth position just three strokes off the lead before hitting two balls out of bounds at the first hole and recording a 5-over 10, the second 10 on the hole this week (John Daly/Round 2).

Nathan Green (68/T28), last week's winner at the RBC Canadian Open, joined Kevin Streelman (who did not play this week) at the top of the Kodak Challenge leaderboard on 11-under. Letzig and Nicholas Thompson are a stroke back at 10-under.

• The 434-yard, par-4 9th hole ranked the most difficult for the week at 4.161 while the par-5 16th hole was the easiest at 4.501.

• Scoring average:

Day Front Back Total Cumulative
Thursday 35.548 34.555 70.103 ---
Friday 36.045 35.078 71.123 70.612
Saturday 35.653 34.542 70.194 70.533
Sunday 35.889 34.972 70.861 70.585
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