Round 4, Bridgestone Invitational
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
70 AND COUNTING (6 p.m.): Seven was the number of the day. As in a seventh Bridgestone Invitational title for Tiger Woods and the 70th PGA TOUR victory of his career. Woods got to that number 7 years faster than Jack Nicklaus, who was 40 when he won his 70th career title. And it all happened in one of the strangest finishes you'll see anywhere.
The day began with Woods shooting a front-nine 30 to seize the lead as Padraig Harrington grinded out one par after another. Then Woods slipped, making back-to-back bogeys for the first time all week to give Harrington the lead by one. That's what things got wacky.
On the mega-long par-5 16th, both players missed the fairway off the tee and both were forced to punch out. Only Woods found the middle of the fairway before absolutely hammering an 8-iron from 178 yards to within a foot of the hole. Harrington, meanwhile, hit one bad shot after another, finding the water next to the green after an inexplicable chip shot that bounded right off the green and into the drink. Golf tournament.
Woods added one more birdie on the 18th hole, capping off his second straight 65 t finish at 12 under, four shots ahead of Harrington and Robert Allenby, who had a 66 of his own.
This one is going to be talked about for a long, long time -- as much for the way Woods won it as Harrington lost it. -- Brian Wacker
TRADING PLACES (5:30 p.m.): Tiger Woods might have just given this year's Bridgestone Invitational its signature shot -- especially if he goes on to win, which it looks like he's going to do after a wild sequence of shots.
Trailing by one on the mile-long par-5 16th hole, Woods lost his tee shot to the left, leaving him no other option than to pitch out and take his chances with a long iron. Except that long iron turned out to be an 8-iron from 178 yards, over water, to a pin that was barely over the edge of that water. Woods delivered on cue, absolutely sticking the shot to a a foot.
Meanwhile, Padraig Harrington, pushed his tee shot to the right and tried to do the same as Woods with a punch out, only his shot ran through the fairway and got caught up in the rough, leaving him a difficult approach shot to the green, which found the rough opposite the water.
Then the inexplicable happened. Harrington's pitch from the rough came out bladed, took two hops on the green and bounced into the water.
When the dust settled, Harrington made a triple-bogey, Woods a birdie. That's a four-shot swing and a three-shot lead for Woods with two holes to play. Amazing. -- Brian Wacker
TIGER FALLS OUT OF TOP SPOT (5:05 p.m.): Tiger Woods just made his first major mistakes of the day, making a bogey on No. 13 after failing to get up-and-down from just off the back of the green. He then compounded it by making another bogey on No. 14 -- his first back-to-back bogeys of the week -- when he found a fairway bunker off the tee then missed the green to the right. Woods had an awkward pitch shot and came up short in the greenside bunker, saving bogey by getting up-and-down from there.
Amazingly, Padraig Harrington, leading by one now, is in that position thanks to 13 pars and a birdie. You would have never guessed pars would hold up for him, not after Woods made the turn in 30, but Harrington continues to hang in with his usual grit. Four holes to play, Woods now trails by one. -- Brian Wacker
FINALLY, A BIRDIE (4:23 p.m.): It took nearly 2 1/2 hours, but Padraig Harrington has his first birdie of the day, pulling within one of Tiger Woods after sinking a putt from just inside 8 feet on the par-4 11th.
Harrington has done what Woods did most of the first few rounds, plodding along making one par after another and as a result he never shot himself out of the tournament. Harrington also isn't the type of player to wilt under the glare of Woods, even when Woods gets on the kind of roll he did on the front nine. Seven holes to play, just one back, Harrington isn't out of it yet. -- Brian Wacker
AT THE TURN (4:05 p.m.): How quickly fortunes can change in just nine holes. All Padraig Harrington could manage was nine straight pars on the front nine here at Firestone. Tiger Woods, meanwhile, just posted his best nine holes of the tournament, making the turn in 30 with three birdies and an eagle. For Woods, it's the second week in a row he has posted a nine-hole score of 30. At Warwick Hills, Woods shot a back-nine 30 in Round 2 on his way to a 63. Today, that front-nine 30 has him in the lead by two over Harrington and on his way to win No. 70 of his PGA TOUR career.
Stat of the day for Woods: 9 for 9 in greens in regulation. He's also missed just three fairways, but two of those have been by a few feet. Woods is also making his putts, taking 14 of them through nine holes. Right now, it looks like the only one who can prevent Woods from winning is Woods. -- Brian Wacker
FISHER'S TOUGH FINISH (4 p.m.): Ross Fisher's day started off well when his wife Jo sent him a photo of their eight-day-old daughter Eve. Unfortunately, the rest of the day didn't go as planned as Fisher closed with a 72 and shot 3 over for the week.
"Pretty disappointing really," Fisher said. "Same old story for me, I hit the ball pretty well but just couldn't hole a putt. These greens are very tricky to be fair but it was just a bit frustrating. Considering I have had a few weeks off with the baby and all that, I am actually hitting the ball quite well so I will try and take those positives into next week."
Fisher, who led the British Open on Sunday before making quadruple bogey at the fifth hole, said he found something on the range this week that could serve him well at Hazeltine. He has other concerns than his driving, though.
"When I get there, though, I think I will probably spend three solid days working on my putting because that will need to improve," he said. "But, if I can start holing some putts I feel like I can really seriously contend next week in the PGA." -- Helen Ross
CLARKE CLIMBS BACK (3:45 p.m.): Darren Clarke, who won the 2003 World Golf Championships-NEC Invitational, regained some form at Firestone this week.
He came to Akron ranked 107th on the European Tour Order of Merit with a tie for 14th his only finish higher than 30th all season. He was steady at Firestone, though, shooting even par and closing with a 69.
"There is a lot of encouragement in there for me," Clarke said. "I didn't play my absolute best out there, even today but I did not bad. I left some shots out there but I have had two weeks off where I didn't do much apart from lie on a beach.
"Sometimes you need that just to recharge the batteries but it means when you do come back that you find time to get your eye in and your scoring eye in if you know what I mean. So this hasn't been bad."
Next up for the affable man from Northern Ireland is the PGA Championship next week.
"I have (been working on my game) and although it is not quite where I want it to be, I am really looking forward to going to Hazeltine," Clarke said. "The guys at the PGA of America have been very kind in giving me an invite to play in the tournament and the fact I have a little bit of form going to it means I am very much looking forward to it." -- Helen Ross
WESTWOOD IN WITH 65 (3:25 p.m.): Lee Westwood should head to Hazeltine on a positive note after closing with a 65 on a windswept Sunday that moved him to 5 under for the tournament. In fact, he nearly made an ace at the 12th hole when his ball lipped out and settled 4 inches from the pin.
"I just kept playing the way I had been playing all week," Westwood said simply. "I hit a lot of good shots, hit it close a lot and was unlucky not to make hole-in-one at the 12th. ... But the key was that I made a couple more putts, that is what has been lacking this week."
Westwood couldn't help but think back to the first round where he made seven birdies but also had two doubles and ended up shooting a disappointing 69.
"The first day ... was really where I let myself down this week," the Englishman said. "... That was sloppy golf but I tend to do that when I have had a couple of weeks off and a break, I get a bit jaded and I didn't make enough of all those birdies on the opening day."
Westwood should be among the favorites at Hazeltine, though. He finished one shot out of a playoff at Turnberry two weeks ago.
'I have got better as this week has gone on so I am looking forward to next week," Westwood said. "It is the last major of the year and having come so close at the Open Championship, I will try and put that right next week and get the 'W' as they say over here." -- Helen Ross
Below is a look at Westwood's scorecard from today:
AND THE BIRDIES KEEP COMING (3:06 p.m.): It took just under an hour for Tiger Woods to catch Padraig Harrington today and it took just another 9 minutes to pass him. Woods just rolled in a 27-footer on No. 5 for his second straight birdie, bringing him to 4 under through his first five holes and 11 under for the tournament.
Harrington, meanwhile, just isn't leaving himself many birdie opportunities with no attempts from inside 16 feet and his last putt, from just over 23 feet, lipped out. Pars aren't going to get it done for Harrington, especially with Woods playing like this. -- Brian Wacker
TIGER TIED FOR THE LEAD (2:57 p.m.): Padraig Harrington's putts keep rolling up to or just past the hole. Tiger Woods' putts keep dropping, including a 13-footer on No. 4 for birdie to get him to 10 under and into a tie for the lead. It's taken Woods 57 minutes to erase a three-shot deficit. -- Brian Wacker
STRICKER TRYING TO STRIKE (2:48 p.m.): With so many eyes on -- not to mention fans following -- Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington this afternoon, you'd think this was a two-man match-play tournament. Well, Steve Stricker is trying to change that with a Sunday charge of his own. Stricker is 4 under through his first 10 holes and is now just three shots off Harrington's lead. (Click here to follow Stricker's round live with Shot Tracker.) -- Brian Wacker
TIGER ON TARGET (2:38 p.m.): Padraig Harrington might very well go on to win the Bridgestone Invitational here, but Tiger Woods isn't making it easy. All week, Woods has either struggled with his driver, or his iron shots, or his putting. Today? He hasn't missed a fairway, or a green. He did miss a birdie butt from just inside 11 feet moments ago, but Woods remains just one back.
In case you're wondering, Woods' lowest final round here is a 5-under 65, which he shot the last time he played in, and won, this tournament, in 2007. After that, you have to go back to 2000, when he closed with a 67. Two other times (in 2002 and 2006) he's shot 68 and twice he's shot 69 (in 2001 and 2004). Only twice has he shot 70 or higher. On both occasions, in 1999 and 2005, he shot 71. -- Brian Wacker
TIGER WITHIN ONE (2:25 p.m.): Now we'll really get to see how Padraig Harrington plays with Tiger Woods nipping at his heels. Woods just moved to within one of Harrington with an eagle on the par-5 second, where he hit three absolutely perfect shots, culminated by a 23-foot, 10-inch putt that was pure.
That's only the second time this week Woods has made birdie or better on the easiest hole on the golf course here at Firestone. Harrington, meanwhile, after making birdie on that hole twice this week, could only manage a par after rolling in a knee-knocking 6-footer. -- Brian Wacker
TIGER, HARRINGTON TEE OFF (2:05 p.m.): Tiger Woods and leader Padraig Harrington have teed off in the day's final group here at Firestone with both players finding the fairway off the tee. Click here to follow them live with Shot Tracker.
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STAYING PUT (1:45 p.m.): Good news for the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem and Mark Emkes, the chairman and CEO of Bridgestone Americas, Inc., have just announced an agreement in principal to extend the sponsorship agreement through the 2014 season.
Emkes said the association made corporate sense for a company like Bridgestone that has had a presence in the Akron area for a century. The economic boost to northeast Ohio and the impact of the tournament on charities in that area were prime factors in the renewal, along with the World Golf Championships' global reach with television coverage in 230 countries.
"We've had to be, like all companies, very lean and strategic during this economic downturn, and there's been some things we've cut out," Emkes said. "We never sacrifice safety or quality, but everything else was fair game.
"But stuff that has been successful like the Bridgestone Invitational, working with a class organization like the PGA (TOUR), our association with the NFL, with the NHL, those things have worked for us. So even in a down economy, we still need to sell Bridgestone golf balls, Bridgestone clubs, Bridgestone tires, Firestone tires, and we think that this venue is just an excellent chance not only to show our brands here in the United States, but this is an international stage, so this is a wonderful opportunity, and it has proven to be successful for us." (Click here for more.) -- Helen Ross
TIGER ON THE GREENS (1:35 p.m.): The last time Tiger Woods missed just one putt from inside of 10 feet through three rounds of a tournament prior to this week was at the 2005 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. He won. The last time before that was at the 2005 World Golf Championships-CA Championship. He won there, too. You get the idea.
Woods might be three shots back entering today's final round, and he might be sharing the tee box with a guy who took him down at the 2006 Dunlop Phoenix in Japan, but if Woods needs just 23 putts the way he did yesterday, Harrington is going to have his hands full. -- Brian Wacker
| Tiger Woods - Fewest Missed Putts Inside 10 Feet thru 3 Rounds | ||||||||||||||||||||
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MORE FROM MICKELSON (1:25 p.m.): Phil Mickelson was excited to get back out and compete again. He just wasn't particularly pleased with the way he performed at the Bridgestone Invitational.
"I didn't score well," Mickelson said. "I didn't play as poorly as the score reflected."
Mickelson was 1 under at the midway point of the tournament, but he shot 8 over on the weekend, including a closing 73 that included a pair of double bogeys. The good thing is that the big lefthander identified the areas he needed to work on heading into next week's PGA Championshp.
"(I was) encouraged that I was able to get out and play, and the biggest thing for me this week was identifying where I was weak," Mickelson said. "I actually expected to play a lot better than I did. I was playing well heading into the week. It became pretty obvious so that when I get on green speeds like this, when I get in rough just a little bit thicker, my short game wasn't where it needs to be. So I'm going to spend extra time on that getting my chipping down, my putting touch down in preparation for Hazeltine.
Mickelson wasn't sure of his plans. He said he might go directly to Minnesota or he may go home for a day or so to see his wife, Amy, and their three children. -- Helen Ross
TALE OF THE TAPE (1:10 p.m.): Tiger Woods and leader Padraig Harrington will tee off in the day's final group in a little under an hour from now and while Woods leads the PGA TOUR in final-round scoring average, you can pretty much throw out Harrington's rank of 150th in that category since Harrington has played this week much better than pretty much any other week this year.
Harrington has put up pretty much identical numbers to Woods this week and that's why they'll play together this afternoon (see chart below for more). -- Brian Wacker
| Woods vs. Harrington This Week | |||||||||||||||||||||
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EARLY MOVERS (12:50 p.m.): Ian Poulter, who spent last night in the hotel watching episodes of Entourage, according to his Twitter, is off to a good start this afternoon with birdies on each of his first two holes for the second straight day, moving him into a tie for fourth at the moment. For the week, Poulter has birdied at least one of those holes every day. Today, both came as a result of approach shots to inside of 5 feet.
Unfortunately, Poulter hasn't done much on the rest of the golf course -- seven of his 12 birdies this week have come on Firestone's first three holes (click here to follow the rest of Poulter's round live with Shot Tracker). -- Brian Wacker
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MICKELSON WRAPPING UP HIS DAY (12:25 p.m.): No one quite knew what to expect from Phil Mickelson this week in his first action since taking more than a month off to be with his wife and mother while they underwent treatment for breast cancer. How Mickelson played, though, wasn't really all that important, just that he was playing period. One, because it meant things were going well with Amy and Mary. Two, because one of the game's most charismatic and electrifying players was back where he belongs.
Unfortunately for Mickelson, his play has been mostly un-electric. He opened with solid rounds of 70-69, but things got away yesterday with a 75 and today he's 3 over with two holes to play. Again, though, the scores aren't all that important. This week was as much about being back and playing this event as it was prepping for the year's final major.
"It's a great test because the grass length is the same, the rough is very similar, green surfaces are very similar, same speed, same grass," Mickelson said yesterday. "It couldn't be a better venue for Hazeltine."
If history is any indication, we should expect Mickelson to play much better next week. The last time he took any significant amount of time off was before the U.S. Open, when Amy was first diagnosed. Mickelson returned in Memphis and finished in a tie for 59th ... then went on to make a magical run at the U.S. Open before finishing second. -- Brian Wacker
CLARK'S TOUGH BREAK (12:15 p.m.): You have to wonder if Tim Clark is just cursed. All kidding aside, he found another way to not win this week -- though he still has a chance to, of course -- by forgetting to move his ball marker back to its original spot on the 16th hole yesterday. Clark did the correct thing and called a penalty on himself, but those two strokes could prove extremely costly. Instead of finishing the third round with a 71 and five strokes back in a tie for third with Jerry Kelly, Clark will begin today in a tie for 14th, seven back, when he tees off in about 15 minutes.
Clark has too much talent not to win on the PGA TOUR, something he's been trying to do since 2002, but it doesn't appear he will this week. -- Brian Wacker
COMEBACK KING (12 p.m.): There have been three come-from-behind wins at the Bridgestone Invitational, all by -- surprise, surprise -- Tiger Woods. The last of those came the last time he won here, in 2007, when Woods shot a final-round 65 to blow past Rory Sabbatini, who began the day with a one-shot lead.
This time, though, it's Padraig Harrington he's chasing. In all, Woods has come from behind to win 20 times in his career. Of those 20 times, however, only five of the players Woods chased down had won a major championship before. Harrington has more major wins than any of the previous players Woods came from behind to beat.
What will it take for Woods to complete his 21st come-from-behind win? It might take another 65 with the way Harrington is playing. See the chart below for all of Woods' Sunday rallies. -- Brian Wacker
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