Victory Rush

Tiger Woods wins his seventh WGC-Bridgestone Invitational but says an official's call played an unfortunate role

Woods readies to apply his 8-iron from 178 yards on the decisive 16th hole. His birdie from inside one foot was part of a four-shot swing.

By Bob Verdi

Photos by J.D. Cuban

August 10, 2009

How can something that happens so often still be called amazing? Tiger Woods won his seventh WGC-Bridgestone Invitational with a final-round 65 to beat Padraig

Harrington and Robert Allenby by four shots. For normal golfers seven victories is a nice life. But seven while using the same locker is patently absurd. Generally, Woods at Firestone CC

would portend such a foregone conclusion, you would almost consider running the tape backward for dramatic effect. That is, start with Tiger holding the trophy, then see how he got there, maybe what new shirts he wore earlier in the tournament and whose throats he stepped on during the preambles to wind up at 12-under-par 268.

But this year's edition—not to steal from the previous week's atmosphere pervading his Buick Open conquest—was a real gas, rife with subplots, reversals and even controversy. Historians probably will decide that Woods' 70th career triumph became fact when he delivered a downwind 178-yard 8-iron that floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee to the 16th, the ball retreating to within eight inches of the cup for a cinch birdie. "One of his all-time best, considering the circumstances," marveled caddie Steve Williams. "On a green I couldn't hold with a lob wedge," concurred Harrington, who was Woods' sidekick in the lead twosome that had distanced itself from the field on a sultry, windy afternoon.

Exactly what degree of separation they achieved, well, that's what created a palpable sense of anxiety. At the fateful 16th, Woods and Harrington were warned that they were on the clock—not a first for groups containing Harrington during the tournament, by the way. He's a gentleman and a scholar, but he is not a rabbit. "By the time they reached the tee, they were 17 minutes over, some four minutes worse than they had been earlier," said John Paramor, the European Tour's chief referee, working the tournament because of its WGC status. Harrington, who led Woods by a stroke as they arrived on the lengthy par 5, then embarked on a gruesome meltdown that did not conclude until he made a three-footer for triple-bogey 8.

"A good battle between us … too bad it got ruined," howled Woods, who was hot during the homestretch and still angry on Harrington's behalf an hour after the ceremony. "That guy [Paramor] cost Paddy a golf tournament."

Harrington tried to be somewhat diplomatic, noting that rules are rules, but he did admit feeling hurried on his tee ball that landed on the hardpan right; his second, a badly pulled 5-iron escape that caught the upslope of a fairway bunker; and his third that bounded over the green into grumpy rough. Then it got really ugly. Harrington's attempted flop shot had a sick mind of its own, rocketing well beyond the putting surface into a pond that the Irishman then circled back around for another approach from about 110 yards, playing 6.

"It was an awkward situation, being out of position," said Harrington, who has not won since the 2008 PGA Championship but appeared to be in fine form with his swing changes while posting rounds of 64-69-67, then hanging in there Sunday as Woods turned a three-stroke deficit after 54 holes into a two-stroke advantage after 63 with a front-nine 30. Woods accrued consecutive bogeys at Nos. 13 and 14, then knocked his tee ball into the left rough at the 16th. Still, he contended that Harrington would have been a factor and incurred no worse than bogey there without being told to step it up, or else.

"And even with all that took place on that hole," Woods went on, "Padraig taking a drop on the other side of the lake, after having to hit that flop shot so quickly, when we got to the No. 17 tee, the guys ahead were just walking off the 18th tee. And when did we finish? Three minutes after we're supposed to go off TV?"

John Paramor, the long-time head referee for the European Tour, has never been shy about enforcing the rules but has also displayed compassionate judgment.

Slugger White, a PGA Tour rules official also on site, disagreed with Woods' version of who was where when. But understand that Tiger unabashedly admires the demeanor and work ethic of Harrington, who wound up with 72 to tie Allenby (66). Though disappointed, Harrington said he would stage his PGA Championship defense with positive feelings about sharpening a tool box that snagged three majors. "I've been trying to change my swing for the last three years," he said, "but it became a priority over the last eight months. If somebody told me I had to go to a desert island for the next two years and I would improve my game, the hard part would be telling my wife. That's what I would do. That's always been my makeup."

When Woods sank a seven-footer at No. 18 Saturday for his first 65 of the weekend, he gained a share of the lead. But it wasn't enough to shake Harrington, who only a minute or so later canned a 29-footer at No. 12 for birdie to go ahead by one. The Irishman birdied Nos. 13 and 15, then bogeyed the par-5 16th, only to bounce back with birdie at No. 17. After finishing with 67, Harrington glanced at the leader board, unaware of the pecking order. He was mildly surprised to see Woods lurking in second, thinking that he might play again Sunday beside Tim Clark in the final group. Clark, however, surrendered his lead after eight holes in no uncertain terms. He had zero birdies on the back nine and drifted off with 73 following a penalty he called on himself at No. 16, where he forgot to return his ball to its original position on the green after moving it out of Harrington's path. "There isn't much you can do about a situation like that," said Clark, who did the right thing.