The Daily Wrap-up, Round 4: Bridgestone Invitational

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Tiger Woods closed with a pair of 65s on the weekend at Firestone to capture his seventh Bridgestone Invitational.

Aug. 11, 2009

AKRON, Ohio (AP) -- First came another signature moment from Tiger Woods, an 8-iron over the water that stopped a foot from the hole. Even more stunning was the meltdown that followed by Padraig Harrington.

A swift and shocking turn of events on Firestone's famous 16th hole took Woods went from one shot behind to a four-shot victory Sunday as he closed with a 5-under 65 to win the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.

Woods became the first player in PGA TOUR history to win seven times on the same golf course. He also picked up 550 FedExCup points and extended his lead to 946 points.

It was his 16th victory in the World Golf Championship series, and the world's No. 1 player now goes to the PGA Championship next week at Hazeltine with two straight victories after missing the cut last month in the British Open.

After nearly four hours in the tough battle that Harrington expected, the Irishman let it slip away.

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Leaderboard: Final scores

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Scorecard: Tiger Woods
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Final-round highlights
Shot of the Day

Woods left himself some 170 yards over the water, and his 8-iron landed near the pin and rolled back a foot away. Harrington hit from the collar of a bunker over the 16th green, but his delicate flop shot from behind the green came out hot and went into the water.

He wound up with a triple bogey and closed with a 3-over 73 to share second place with Robert Allenby, who had a 66.

The par-5 16th is the most famous hole at Firestone, given the nickname "The Monster" years ago by Arnold Palmer.

"I took 6 and 8 the last two days, so I certainly think it was a monster," Harrington said.

Woods, who has won the Bridgestone Invitational seven times in 10 starts and has never finished out of the top five, closed out his remarkable afternoon in style with a 6-foot birdie putt.

It was the 70th victory of his TOUR career, three behind Jack Nicklaus in second place. Sam Snead (82) holds the record.

"We locked horns pretty good," Woods said. "I made a couple of mistakes. Paddy was being consistent, grinding it out, doing all the right things. Unfortunately, 16 happened. But it was a great battle all day."

It was every bit of that.

Woods won for only the sixth time in his career when trailing by three shots or more, a deficit that didn't last long.

He hit his approach into the par-5 second hole just over the bunkers to 25 feet to make eagle, and two more birdies was enough for him to take the lead after only five holes. From the right rough on the ninth fairway -- a rare miss on the front nine -- Woods hit to 7 feet for a birdie that gave him a 30 and a two-shot lead.

Harrington, a three-time major champion with a tough mind, kept grinding away with pars and regained a share of the lead when Tiger bogeyed the 13th, two holes after Harrington carded his first birdie of the day. And when Woods made a second, consecutive bogey, Harrington found himself with a one-shot lead heading for the homestretch.

They took 30 minutes to play the first two holes, were timed throughout the round and put on the clock at the 16th. It didn't help when both of them found trouble off the tee -- Woods hooked his tee shot into the left rough and had to lay up well short of the pond; Harrington pushed his tee shot into the trees.

Harrington tried to punch a 5-iron around a fairway bunker, but wound up in the collar on the back slope of the bunker. From there, his third shot sailed over the green.

"I rushed my second shot chipping it out and didn't hit a good shot, and obviously left myself in trouble," Harrington said. "I had an awkward fourth shot. I had to go after it, and probably rushed that a bit, as well. That was the end of that."

Woods could not have imagined while standing in the left rough that he would be three shots ahead on the 17th tee. Harrington made such a mess of the hole that he hit five straight shots without losing his turn.

"Tiger did play particularly well," Harrington said. "I said to him afterward, 'We'll do battle many more times again.'"

Woods won this one, as he often does at Firestone.

Hunter Mahan, who shot 66 and tied for fourth, looked up at the leaderboard early in his round and saw that Woods already had erased a three-shot deficit after four holes.

"That's what he does," Mahan said. "He could play this course left-handed and do well."

A short time later, Camilo Villegas left the clubhouse and passed by the British-based Sky Sports broadcast crew watching on TV. Woods and Harrington were on the 12th hole.

"What are you watching for? You know what's going to happen," Villegas said with a smile.

No one could have imagined the way it turned out, only the guy holding the trophy when it was over.

Other notables at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational

Name	Score	Position	Comment	FedExCup points
Angel Cabrera	7 under	T4	Thanks to a final-round 67, Cabrera recorded his best finish since winning the Masters in April.	127.5
Steve Stricker	6 under	T6	Stricker made a run up the leaderboard early Sunday afternoon with five birdies in his first 11 holes before cooling off.	96.33
Stewart Cink	6 under	T6	Playing for the first time since winning the British Open, Cink represented himself well with four rounds in the 60s.	96.33
Lee Westwood	5 under	9	Thanks to four birdies over his final seven holes, Westwood matched the low round of the day, a 65, also shot by Tiger Woods.	N/A
Kenny Perry	3 under	T11	Playing with a heavy heart due to his mother's illness, Perry persevered, shooting rounds of 66-71 on the weekend to finish in the top 15.	67.25

Sunday's best

EASIEST HOLE	TOUGHEST HOLE
The par-5 second hole was the easiest with a Sunday scoring average of 4.506. EAGLES: 2 BIRDIES: 29 PARS: 44 BOGEYS: 3 OTHERS: 1	The par-4 fourth hole was the toughest with a Sunday scoring average of 4.354. EAGLES: 0 BIRDIES: 3 PARS: 51 BOGEYS: 19 OTHERS: 6

SHOT OF THE DAY	ROUND OF THE DAY
Tiger Woods hit maybe the shot of the year with an 8-iron approach from 178 yards on No. 16 to set up a clutch birdie. Watch his shot	Tiger Woods matched the low round of the day with a 65 that included a front-nine 30 and two birdies on his last three holes. Check out his scorecard

INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
PGA TOUR Network correspondent Brian Katrek offers these observations from Sunday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146/SIRIUS 209 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.

Phil Mickelson has seen alot of different things in his professional career. But without the benefit of the Elias Sports Bureau, I can tell you that Sunday was the first time he has ever been paired with a guy in a camouflage shirt. Of course, the culprit was Boo Weekley. No word on how many times Phil played out of order because he couldn't see his fellow competitor.

Padraig Harrington and Tiger Woods are not done with each other as fellow competitors. They will be grouped with Rich Beem for the first two rounds of the PGA Championship. Also getting a head start on a grouping for next week, Stewart Cink and Angel Cabrera. They will be paired with Lucas Glover in a group of the reigning major champions.

There are reports that Tiger and Padraig were put on the clock on the 16th tee. They were considerably behind the group of Miguel Angel Jimenez and Jerry Kelly. You would sure hate to have a tournament decided because of a slow-play penalty, but it might be the best thing to happen to the game of golf. Slow play is the biggest problem facing the game for regular folks, and this would be a very high profile reminder to pick up the pace.

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