Tiger Woods continued his love affair with Germany, and St Leon-Rot in particular, when he won the Deutsche Bank - SAP Open TPC of Europe at the third hole of a sudden-death play-off with Colin Montgomerie, both players having ended their four rounds on 20 under par 268.
Each time the tournament has been staged at the spectacular Heidelberg venue – in 1999, 2001 and 2002 – Woods has triumphed but this year’s tournament proved to be the most pulsating, the dramatic final round played out in front of record, shirt-sleeved crowds.
In total, 78,000 people flocked to St Leon-Rot over the week, 8,000 more than the previous best of 70,000 in 1999 and they were not disappointed. Woods, the World Number One, and Montgomerie, the seven time European Number One, went head-to-head the entire final day in classic match play fashion, and were ably backed by an impressive supporting cast which saw Justin Rose finish third on 269 with Greg Owen fourth on 271.
One shot ahead at the start of the day, Montgomerie quickly made it three when he birdied the opening two holes. A birdie at the third continued the incredible run but when Woods made eagle at the same hole, the battle had truly commenced.
Birdies at the tenth and 11th, combined with Montgomerie’s bogey at the 13th let Woods glimpse the lead for the first time but the Scot showed tremendous courage, ignoring the pain from a back injury, to battle back level with a birdie three at the the 15th.
With pars carded at the 16th and 17th, Montgomerie had a chance to win at the 72nd hole after his regulation par had secured his 69 for 268. But Woods showed nerves of steel to roll in his ten foot effort for four and a 68 to match the Scot’s total and send the pair back up the 18th.
The American thought he had won at the first time of asking but his 12 foot birdie effort horseshoed round the hole and stayed above ground. At the second time of asking, two regulation par fours were posted before Woods made it third time lucky on the 18th, a par four at the 443 yard hole good enough as Montgomerie’s tee shot caught the edge of a fairway bunker before his second found the water on his way to a double-bogey six.
It was a disappointing end for Montgomerie but he took heart from his overall performance. “In the circumstances, I am very proud to have gone out there and shot 69 today,” he said. “This morning I was about to pull out. I couldn’t play. I was very close when I was on the range.
“In the play-off, my back was getting far too sore and that’s why I was hooking it. But it was good for the TPC of Europe and it was good for the sponsors. It is good for The European Tour to be broadcast this way and in America on The Golf Channel – it is good to see our Tour in this light.”
Third placed Rose continued to show the maturity now apparent in his game following his maiden victory in the dunhill championship in January with a battling closing 67, which gave him 169,020 euro (£105,490) and a place inside the top 20 of the Volvo Order of Merit.
Despite not starting well, and dropping a shot at the 439 yard second, the 21 year old Englishman stuck doggedly to his task and birdies at the fourth, seventh, tenth and 12th took him back into third place on his own.
Not content with that, Rose proceeded to roll in a 40 foot birdie putt at the 16th and a ten footer for birdie at the 17th before repeating the feat at the last for a brave par four to set the clubhouse target of 19 under par 269, a total which made the leading duo wary of any mistakes.
Rose’s playing partner Owen took fourth on 17 under par 271 after he too closed with a 67 but, for a while at the start of the final round, it looked like the 30 year old from Mansfield would be the main challenger to Montgomerie and Woods.
An eagle at the third and birdies at the first, fourth and fifth moved Owen onto the coat-tails of the leaders but he could not keep the momentum going. A bogey five at the 11th and another at the 15th put paid to his chances of catching the main protagonists but his 25 foot birdie putt at the 17th kept up his remarkable recent run of form.
Since the Algarve Open de Portugal at the beginning of last month, the Englishman has finished in the top ten in four of the five tournaments he has contested, consistent form which took him to tenth on the Volvo Order of Merit.
Behind Owen, Ricardo Gonzalez continued the good fortunes for Argentine golf following Angel Cabrera’s win in the Benson and Hedges International Open last week, with a closing 68 for a 15 under par total of 273 and fifth place, while Thomas Björn (66), Mårten Olander (68) and Ian Woosnam shared sixth on 275 (-13).
