Tiger Woods penned another chapter in the record books at La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, his victory over David Toms in World Golf Championships – Accenture Match Play seeing the World Number One become the first player in history to win all four WGC events.
Aside from reaching the final in 2000, when he was beaten by Darren Clarke, Woods had never made it past the quarter-final stage, but he put that statistic right with a 2 and 1 success in the 36 hole final to bank the €973,394 (£661,875) first prize and record his seventh WGC victory since 1999.
Four ahead at lunch Woods was made to fight all the way by Toms, who showed his match play credentials when he banked three and a half points from five in The 34th Ryder Cup Matches to be the Americans top scorer, but his brave attempt came to an end on the 35th hole where an errant drive cost him a bogey five and the match.
“It was a tough day out there, a long, tough day, but obviously I’m delighted to win,” said Woods. “Match play is a very fickle beast, there are so many things that go on which can affect the momentum of a match.
“It was a very gruelling day out there because David is a very good player and I knew it was going to be a tough match so I’m just lucky that I came through in the end.”
There was significant European Tour interest on the final day too with Peter Lonard and Adam Scott contesting the Consolation Match for third place. In the end the honour went to Scott, who won by one hole to jump to third on the Volvo Order of Merit while Lonard moved second, only €76,810 (£48,417) behind Ernie Els.
Scott revealed that he would like to continue to play in Europe "for the next five years or so". He explained: "I love playing there (Europe). It is where my friends are and I enjoy all the different challenges."
The tussle between the two Australians completed an excellent week for The European Tour in southern California. Of the 24 Members who began proceedings, ten progressed to the second round, five to the third round and three to the quarter-finals.
Indeed both Lonard and Scott had excellent chances to feature in the final itself, Lonard battling back from three down to square his semi-final with Toms before the 2001 US PGA Champion won the match on the last green with a ten foot birdie putt.
Scott went even closer and bravely battled Woods all the way in their epic semi-final, already now talked about as one of the best matches in the tournament’s five year history.
Ahead in the early stages, Scott fell behind to a typical Woods charge around the turn, but the young Australian held his nerve and courageously birdied the last to take the match into extra holes only to lose on the 19th green.
Another excellent European Tour performance during the week came from the 2000 champion Clarke, who beat Tim Clark, Davis Love III and Jim Furyk on his way to the quarter-finals before losing on the last green to Lonard.
Also featuring prominently were Members Alex Cejka and Stephen Leaney who each reached the third round, Cejka beating Colin Montgomerie and Angel Cabrera before losing on the last green to Toms, while Leaney ousted Bob Estes and Justin Leonard before going out to Woods.
In the Consolation Match, Scott looked to be on his way to an easy victory when he cruised to six up after only eight holes. But Lonard’s confidence received a boost when a par four was good enough to win the ninth and he set about his recovery mission.
With Scott’s driving misfiring on the back nine, Lonard took his chance to reduce the deficit, birdies at the 11th and 14th, allied to Scott’s bogeys at the 12th and 16th, enough to see the match come down the par five 18th with the younger Australian only one hole to the good.
In the rough to the left of the green in two, Scott opened the door once again for Lonard, but closed it firmly for the final time when he produced an exquisite pitch over the bunker to eight feet and rolled in the winning birdie putt.
“I had a great week and I think I really stepped it up a level, especially in the semi-final, playing so well against Tiger, that was a big experience for me,” said Scott.
“I think if I can now go away and work on my swing and do the right things there, my mental confidence and everything associated with that will be a lot higher because of what I’ve achieved here.”
