Tiger caps incredible sports weekend with improbable win at Bay Hill |
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Unpredictable outcomes have become the norm in 21st century sports. With that said, this weekend was one of the most surprising in recent memory. The University of Georgia made a historic run in the SEC Tournament and wound up playing their way into the NCAA field after winning three games in the final two days of the tournament. The format had to be altered because of a tornado that hit the Atlanta area on Friday night and cause structural damage to the Georgia Dome. Another bizarre event occurred Sunday when the Denver Nuggets set a franchise record for most points scored in a regulation game with a 168-116 rout over the Seattle Sonics. The 168 points amassed by the Nuggets was the fourth most in NBA history in regulation time. The Boston Celtics racked up 173 points against the Minneapolis Lakers on February 27, 1959 as did the Phoenix Suns against the Nuggets on November 10, 1990. Both events paled in comparison to the spectacle Tiger Woods created at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Fla. Like he has done dozens of times, Tiger stole the spotlight and made everything else look pedestrian. Tiger looked mediocre during the first two days of the event as he trailed Vijay Singh by seven shots heading into Saturday’s round. He would rebound and found himself tied for the lead after 54 holes. Then it was time to dawn his trademark ‘victory red’ and make history Sunday. Woods ran his PGA TOUR win streak to five in a dramatic as he holed a 24-foot putt for birdie on the 72nd hole to beat Bart Bryant by one stroke.
“I heard a big cheer, and I got up and left,” Bryant remarked. “That’s why he’s Tiger Woods.” With his win at Bay Hill, Tiger now owns three of the five PGA TOUR winning streaks that have spanned at least five events. The others belong to Byron Nelson (11) and Ben Hogan (6). Woods won Bay Hill for the fifth time, becoming the first player in PGA TOUR history to win at least five times in four different tournaments. The others are the Buick Invitational, Bridgestone Invitational and the CA Championship, where he plays next week at Doral as the three-time defending champion. It doesn’t happen that often, but Sunday even Tiger seemed a bit surprise of his latest accomplishment that only added to his legendary status. “You have to understand, I had not hit the ball well the last three days, and then to have that shot with everything on the line, to hit a shot and give myself a putt at it; you saw Stevie and I celebrated in the fairway,” Woods said. “I was so fired up I hit that shot the way I wanted to. I just tried to make sure I kept that positiveness going into the putt.”
If you count the Dubai Desert Classic and his own Target Challenge, Woods has now won seven consecutive tournaments. The man is obsessed with success. He has been there before and undoubtedly will be again. “I need to see the highlights,” Woods added. “I was so into the moment of the putt going in and winning the golf tournament. I kept telling myself, I’ve done this before, I did it against Phil, and this time it’s a little bit deeper into the green and the putt has a little bit more break and it has a little more grain; I’ve done it before and I can do it again.” Tiger’s march toward history takes him to Miami and the World Golf Championship – CA Championship at Doral next week, an event he has won the past three years and a total of six times.
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