Weekly Tour Wrap-Up #13th April

The unofficial fifth major of the season took place last week, with the strongest field in the world game assembling at one of the most revered golfing destinations on the planet.

At the Players Championship, the world’s best golfer won his fourth event of 2013 and notched his 78^th PGA Tour title in the process.

Woods sensational at Sawgrass

Tiger Woods shot a closing 70 to post a 13-under-par 72-hole total and win The Players Championship by two shots from Kevin Streelman and David Lingmerth at TPC Sawgrass in Florida.

In doing so, the 14-time major champion extended his lead atop the Official World Golf Ranking and took his season earnings to a staggering $5,849,600 from just seven starts.

Woods make a solid start to the tournament in the testing Thursday afternoon conditions, mixing six birdies with one birdie for a 67 – his first sub-70 opening round at the Players.

Despite a strong start, he was trailing Roberto Castro by four shots after 18 holes.

Castro – a man without a top 15 all season – had the round of his life, carding a nine-under-par 63 in his first professional round at Sawgrass to sit three clear atop the leaderboard.

Rory McIlroy shot a 66 to lie in a tie for second place with Zach Johnson on a day where 67 players broke par.

Woods started the second round with two early birdies, turned in 34 and matched that score on the back nine for a 68 and a 10-under-par 36-hole total.

Only Sergio Garcia’s best ever round at TPC Sawgrass prevented him being at the top of the leaderboard heading into the weekend.

Garcia, Players champion in 2008, started the day on four-under-par and reached the turn in 34 before giving a shot back on the par 4 1^st, his 10^th of the day.

That bogey was the catalyst, and the Spaniard – who didn’t miss a fairway all day – proceeded to birdie six of his next seven holes en route to a seven-under-par 65.

Kevin Chappell, Lee Westwood and 2009 champion Henrik Stenson were two back on nine under, three of 18 players within five shots of the lead at the halfway stage.

On a rain-interrupted third day, the lead changed hands on numerous occasions.

Woods made birdie on the par 5 2^nd and Garcia bogied the same hole to trade places with the American – a dropped shot he later attributed to Woods’ inopportune pulling of a five wood and the subsequent cheer from the crowd.

That incident sparked a war of words, with Woods stating “it’s not really surprising he was complaining about something” before Garcia’s post-round admission that he didn’t really like the world number one.

Both players were forced to return to the course on Sunday morning to complete their rain-interrupted third rounds. Woods birdied 16 to reach 11-under-par and Garcia offset a bogey at 15 with birdies and 16 and 17 to finish round three on the same score.

The pair were joined by Swedish PGA Tour rookie Lingmerth, who broke 70 for the third consecutive round in his Players debut.

Stenson - who owned a two-shot lead at one point during round three – was one back on 10-under-par alongside Ryan Palmer and Casey Wittenberg.

The final round started with a flurry of birdies, with the likes of Marc Lieshman, Ben Crane and Jimmy Walker making considerable moves through the field.

They were relying on the leaders to drop shots, though, and Woods was in no mood to do that, making birdies at two and four to move to 13 under.

At the turn, he led by one from 49-year-old veteran Jeff Maggert and sat two clear of Garcia, Lingmerth and Stenson, who bounced back from a double at four with three consecutive birdies from the 9^th.

But it wasn’t over yet, and Woods fell back into a tie for the lead with Garcia and Lingmerth after a costly double at the 14^th hole.

Ahead, Maggert found water on the perilous 17^th to forfeit his chance of victory, and when Garcia and Lingmerth arrived on the same hole, they trailed Woods by one shot.

But the Spaniard took the pin on and found water twice, eventually carding a triple bogey six to fall out of contention.

Lingmerth, meanwhile, missed a good birdie chance but made a safe par, and strode to the 72^nd tee knowing he needed a birdie to tie Woods.

His approach from rough found the green, but his 50-footer slid past the cup and off the green, leaving Woods to celebrate his second Players title.

Next week, the PGA Tour heads to Texas for the Byron Nelson Championship, and the European Tour stages its first tournament in Bulgaria at the Volvo World Matchplay Championship.

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