By Mark Soltau August 12, 2007
TULSA, Okla. -- Tiger Woods defines his year by winning a major championship (or championships). Sunday, on another sweltering, 100-degree day at Southern Hills, he put an exclamation mark on 2007.
The 31-year-old Woods withstood the heat and every challenge in the 89th PGA Championship to claim his 13th major title, and he's first since winning this tournament a year ago. He also added to his legacy of golf's top closer -- he's now 13-0 in a major when leading after 54 holes. He's also 40-3 on the PGA Tour when leading after three rounds.
While Woods had come close in previous majors in 2007, this was his last chance to avoid the shutout. He did so claiming the lead after his second-round 63 (a career-low in a major), and then holding off all challengers for the last 36 holes.
"It turned into a great year," said Woods, whose closed with a 1-under-par 69 and finished at 8-under 272, two strokes better than Woody Austin, to collect his second-straight Wanamaker Trophy and fourth overall.
That puts him just five behind Jack Nicklaus's career major mark of 18. But for some perspective, consider this: Woods won his 13th major in his 44th start as pro. Nicklaus won his 13th in his 53rd pro start."Eighteen is just a long way away," Woods said. "You can't get it done in one year. It's going to take time. It took Jack 20 years to get it done. And hopefully health permitting and everything goes right and I keep improving, that I'll one day surpass him."
His fifth win of the year was the sweetest, and was witnessed by his wife and new daughter. Even little Sam Alexis was dressed in red.
"Well, it's a feeling I've never had before," Woods said. "It used to be my mom and dad. And now Elin and we have our own daughter. So it's evolved, and this one feels so much more special than the other majors."
Earlier in the week, some suggested the tight, tree-lined course was too tight and awkward for Woods to conquer. In the 2001 U.S. Open here, he tied for 12th.
But the 2007 version of Woods is much different than the one seen at Southern Hills six years ago.
"I don't understand why people kept saying that," Woods said. "If you watched the way I hit the ball in 2001, I wasn't hitting it very well. But if you look at where I was hitting it, I was hitting it exactly the same spots I did this week. I just wasn't able to hit the fairways."
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