Tiger Woods’ winning streak is over.
The world’s No. 1 golfer’s run of seven straight victories worldwide ended Monday at the CA Championship, where he was unable to come back from a five-shot deficit over the final seven holes of the rain-delayed tournament.
This was Woods’ first loss since he tied for second at the Deutsche Bank Championship outside Boston more than six months ago. He was unbeatable since, winning more than $7.2 million at his last seven events, five of them official PGA Tour stops.
But he never got rolling at Doral, where he prevailed each of the past three years.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
DORAL, Fla. (AP) _ Entering the week, everything pointed to another Tiger Woods victory. His ridiculous rate of success in World Golf Championship events. His six-month undefeated streak. His history of Doral dominance.
But now, trailing by five shots with seven holes to play and in a tie for ninth at the CA Championship, Woods’ unbeaten run may not even last the day.
Geoff Ogilvy got to 17 under through nine holes and held a two-shot lead over Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh at the soggy CA Championship, which won’t finish until Monday because of a three-hour weather delay during the final round.
Furyk was 15 under through 10, while Singh played nine holes. Retief Goosen and Graeme Storm were three shots back and Steve Stricker made a huge charge, shooting a final-round 63 to finish at 13 under, four shots back of Ogilvy and tied with Adam Scott.
Play was to resume Monday at 8:30 a.m., when most attention will be pointed toward Woods _ even though a win seems improbable.
“In his own mind, he probably still thinks he has a chance and I’m sure we’ve seen him to do crazy things before,” Ogilvy said. “But Jim and Vijay have won a fair few tournaments and Adam’s won a fair few tournaments. ... He doesn’t have to only catch me.”
World Golf Championship events are some of Woods’ favorites, given his 15 wins in 26 previous WGCs entering this week. But somehow, at Doral, he’s looked mortal.
Ogilvy’s last win was the 2006 U.S. Open. Woods missed the cut that summer at Winged Foot but has been on an absolute tear ever since, winning 16 of his last 26 official PGA Tour events and carrying winning streaks of seven straight appearances worldwide and five tournaments on tour into Doral, where he’s prevailed each of the past three years.
Unless he pulls off a stirring comeback, all those streaks will end, meaning he’ll be a winner in only nine of his past 11 events worldwide heading into the Masters.
Ogilvy’s bogey-free streak for the week ended after 60 holes, when he left a 35-foot par putt short on the seventh hole. He was forced to scramble at times and said he was exhausted after the long day, but he’s still in the best position entering Monday.
“It’s a good leaderboard,” Ogilvy said. “That’s what the whole point of these golf tournaments was, I guess, to get fields like this, get everyone playing each other. I guess the idea is to have everyone have a chance with nine holes to play or 18 holes to play.”
Woods’ chances took a serious hit in the third round, when every other contender seemed to go on birdie sprees while he remained stuck in the Doral mud. Singh and Storm shot 63s, Goosen and Furyk had 64s, while Woods could only manage a 72 when his third round finished Sunday morning.
He gave the omnipresent throng of fans who followed him in the gallery much hope when he opened the final round with two birdies.
But he followed those with consecutive bogeys, one before the weather delay, one after at the long par-3 fourth hole. At that point, he trailed Ogilvy by six, and was a decidedly un-Tigerlike even par over his past 25 holes.
Furyk opened his final round with a birdie, but two straight bogeys after that threatened to knock him out of contention. He rallied nicely, though, putting together four consecutive birdies later on the front side, giving him 13 birdies in a 26-hole stretch.
“If I want to win the golf tournament,” Furyk said, “I’m going to have to make a bunch of birdies again tomorrow.”
Third-round play was suspended Saturday after 3 inches of rain fell in a three-hour stretch of the afternoon, and the final round didn’t begin until shortly before noon Sunday. Final-round play was suspended for three hours because of lightning threats. By the time play resumed, there was only about 2 hours of daylight remaining, nowhere near enough time for everyone to finish.
“Still a lot of golf to go,” Singh said. “Just hung in there.”
Players had about a 2 1/2-hour break before starting the final round Sunday, and with more storms in the forecast, some wondered why they weren’t on the course earlier.
“I think we were all asking the same question, exactly,” Furyk said. “I don’t know. It seems as though that would have been the safest way.”
Instead, 53 of the remaining 77 players will finish Monday, when Woods will need a huge charge.
“It can be had,” Woods said.
Notes:@ Woods planned to leave Doral quickly Monday; he’ll begin play in Orlando at the annual Tavistock Cup, the boutique event pitting tour players from Lake Nona Golf and Country Club and Isleworth, in the early afternoon, as will several other players in the CA Championship field. Tavistock play will be delayed about 2 1/2 hours to allow players to make the quick flight north. ... Aaron Baddeley made six straight birdies on the front nine and closed with a 66. ... Soren Kjeldsen of Denmark had two eagles in the first eight holes of his final round; he made 3s on the par-5 first and eighth holes, needing only a combined 14 feet of putts. He was able to finish the final round and catch his scheduled Sunday night flight to London. ... Reigning U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera withdrew during the delay Sunday because of an undisclosed illness. He was 21 shots off the lead at the time. ... Rory Sabbatini played his opening nine final-round holes in 8-over 44, giving back all those shots in a five-hole span.
Home




