Tiger Grand At The Slam
Tiger Woods got off to the fast start he wanted, and won the PGA Grand Slam of Golf on Wednesday for his second straight match victory.
In posting his 10th victory in 14 starts, Woods built up a big lead on the front 9 and defeated Davis Love III 3 and 2.
"I felt it was going to be a tough match because Davis played so well yesterday," Woods said of Love's 6-and-5 blowout of Masters champion José Maria Olazábal. "After birdieing the first hole, I knew if I could somehow answer, I could stop his momentum."
That's exactly what the Woods did.
He eagled the 524-yard second hole, starting him to a runaway win. It was the same hole Love eagled to kick off his rout of Olazabal a day earlier.
By the time the players reached the turn, Woods was 5 up thanks to two more birdies and a pair of bogeys by Love.
The PGA winner completed the front 9 at the 6,957-yard Poipu Bay Resort on Kauai in 5-under-par 31. Love, who made it into the tournament as an alternate following the death of Payne Stewart, was at 1-over 37.
Love birdied 12th and 13th holes to cut Woods' lead to 3 up, but it wasn't enough.
"I didn't get off to a great start," Love said. "He got 1 up on an eagle and when he gets off like that, he's hard to beat. You can feel the door closing."
Woods, who entered with $7,281,626 in winnings this year, won another $400,000. He has won 10 of his last 14 tournaments.
The third-place match ended when Paul Lawrie conceded to Olazabal after twisting his right ankle. The British Open winner was walking from the ninth green to the 10th tee when he stumbled over some rocks. Olazabal was leading 1 up at the time.
A PGA of America official, Julius Mason, said Lawrie did not break any bones, but that additional tests were being conducted to determine whether there was any ligament damage.
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