Last year’s victory at the 2007 Buick Invitational solidified Tiger’s
seventh straight win on the PGA TOUR, making it the second longest
win streak in history behind Byron Nelson.
Last year’s victory at the 2007 Buick Invitational solidified Tiger’s
seventh straight win on the PGA TOUR, making it the second longest
win streak in history behind Byron Nelson.
This year’s 19-under par 269 win at the 2008 Buick Invitational not only marked his fourth consecutive Buick title (tying yet another PGA TOUR record for consecutive wins in a single tournament), but this win was also his 62nd career victory. A victory that tied him with the King, Arnold Palmer, for fourth place on the all-time PGA TOUR victory list.
"I’m sure that there are many, many more coming in the future," Palmer said. "There isn’t any question about that."
Just like there was no question about the outcome. Woods opened with a 40-foot birdie putt, threw in a 60-foot birdie just to keep a four-deep gallery from falling asleep, and looked only mortal when he made three straight bogeys toward the end of his round. All it did was affect the final margin, not the name on the trophy.
The only surprise at the tournament was the weather. The forecast for Saturday night was for heavy rain overnight and into Sunday, with the possibility of a Monday finish. But the clouds cleared Sunday as Woods was warming up, and he played the front nine under brilliant blue skies. Only on the back nine did clouds return and temperatures plunged. He closed out his victory under a mixture of rain and clouds, and a smile that showed all was right in his world.
"You’d think it’s surprising, but it’s not," Charles Howell III said. "It’s Tiger."
Other players like Jason Gore echoed the sentiment. "He’s making history, end of story. The guy’s the chosen one."
San Diego local native, Kevin Stadler, added, "Anymore, you just know you’re not going to beat him. I shot a 72 (Sunday) and I think that’s pretty good on the South Course, and he’s getting it around in 66 (Saturday) and 67 (Thursday). He’s not human."
Ryuji Imada, whose 67, matched the best score of the final round and was the runner up. "My goal today was to finish second," Imada said. "That’s almost like winning the golf tournament to me."
| PLAYER | POS |
SCORES | TOTAL SCORE |
OFFICIAL MONEY |
| Tiger Woods | 1 |
67 65 66 71 | 269 | $936,000.00 |
| Ryuji Imada | 2 |
69 72 69 67 | 277 | $561,600.00 |
| Rory Sabbatini | T3 |
67 75 70 67 | 279 | $301,600.00 |
| Stewart Cink | T3 |
68 69 69 73 | 279 | $301,600.00 |
| Justin Leonard | 5 |
76 68 65 72 | 281 | $208,000.00 |
| Phil Mickelson | T6 | 70 73 68 71 | 282 | $180,700.00 |
| Joe Durant | T6 | 70 70 67 75 | 282 | $180,700.00 |
| John Senden | T8 | 70 69 72 72 | 283 | $150,800.00 |
| Fred Couples | T8 | 71 69 71 72 | 283 | $150,800.00 |
| Stewart Appleby | T8 | 67 72 71 73 | 283 | $150,800.00 |