Vincent Publishing - Index

Vincent Publishing - 2008 Wachovia Championship - Index

2007 TOURNAMENT REVIEW
28
Above: Stewart Cink putts on
the 18th on Sunday, finishing
with a final round 70
and a tie for fifth.
Right: Vijay Singh closed
with a disappointing 74,
putting him in a three-way tie
for seventh with Arron
Oberholser and Ken Duke.
A final round with wild swings in momentum finally
settled into a familiar outcome. Backed by a two-shot
lead going to the most daunting hole at Quail Hollow,
Woods was able to play it safe on the 18th and made an
eight-foot par to close with a 3-under 69 for a two-shot
victory over Stricker. It was his third TOUR victory last
year and his ninth in his last 12 TOUR starts.
It didn’t look like a sure thing all day. After a
blunder on the 13th hole a three-putt double bogey to
blow a three-shot lead on the back nine Woods
redirected his focus.
“My whole goal coming in after that was to try to get
the lead through 15,” Woods said. “I figured if I parred
in, I’d probably win the tournament because in these
conditions, no one is going to play those last three holes
under par.”
Woods wanted the lead through 15 holes knowing
the finish was as tough as anywhere — the hardest
three holes at Quail Hollow in descending order, with
the 18th so tough it played more than a half-stroke
over par.
Stricker, tied for the lead when he holed a five-foot
birdie putt on the 15th, didn’t get enough help from the
wind and hit into the trees, then the bunker and missed
a six-foot putt to take double bogey on the 16th. He
followed with a 30-foot birdie on the 17th, but found
the stream down the left side of the 18th fairway to
doom his chances. He shot 69.
Singh, who briefly led with a short birdie on the
seventh hole, couldn’t answer Woods’ eagle-birdiebirdie
charge into the lead at the turn, and the Fijian
stumbled badly at the end with two balls in the water
for a triple bogey and a 74.
Sabbatini had a one-shot lead and was confident in his
ability to take down Woods on Sunday, but he didn't
fair so well in the face of what he called, “David and
Goliath,” referring to Woods as the underdog in a radio
interview on Saturday.
“He got the job done today and I didn’t,” said Sabbatini,
who didn’t make a birdie until the 10th hole and closed
with a 74. He tied for third along with Mickelson, who
shot 70 but was never a factor.
While everyone else slipped and fell, Woods wound
up with the 57th victory of his career and a pretty
cool jacket that’s somewhere between Tar Heel and
Duke blue.
2008 Wachovia Championship Official Event Program