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Woods on cruise control

Tiger Woods and caddie Steve Williams walk up the 18th fairway Sunday at the Buick Open in Grand Blanc Township, Mich.

Published: Monday, August 3, 2009 4:24 PM CDT

GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - Tiger Woods cruised to his easiest victory of the year, getting away with an awful round to open the Buick Open and an average one to hold off a weak field.

His competition and the courses he's going to play are about to get much tougher.

Woods shot a 3-under 69 and coasted to a three-shot victory with a 20-under 268 total at Warwick Hills, which hosted its first Buick Open in 1958 and seemed to stage its final one Sunday.

Woods, whose previous three wins this year were each by one shot, spent much of Sunday ahead by two before he took a three-stroke lead with the birdie at No. 16.

His businesslike final round included three birdies and no bogeys and he won without trailing in the final round for the first time since Bay Hill in 2008.

He will play at the Bridgestone Invitational this week before going to Hazeltine for the PGA Championship, his final chance to win a major this year. He scheduled himself to compete in two straight tournaments going into a major for the first time in his career.

“I feel good,” Woods said. “The win helps.”

Woods won the Buick Open for a third time and claimed his 69th PGA Tour victory, but the end-of-an-era feel made it more than a ho-hum experience.

“I've played all around the world, and I've never seen a day like this,” said Woods, also the 2002 and 2006 winner at Warwick Hills. “This event has always been special, but today was something else.”

He acknowledged thinking about his walk up 18 at Warwick Hills being his last, leading to him throwing his ball with a lot of velocity back down the fairway to fans. He also tossed a ball into the gallery at 17.

“I never do that, but today was different,” Woods said. “We aren't coming back here, and I wanted to thank all these people.”

GolfWeek Magazine reported on its Web site that General Motors Co. would end the PGA Tour's longest partnership, and the Associated Press confirmed it with a person briefed on the decision. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the announcement wouldn't be made until after the tournament.

GolfWeek also reported The Greenbrier in West Virginia is waiting for the PGA Tour to confirm it will replace the Buick Open in 2010.

Woods improved to 36-1 when he has the outright lead after 54 holes. Woods has four wins this season - twice as many as anyone else on the PGA Tour - in just 11 starts since returning from knee surgery.

Roland Thatcher (64), Greg Chalmers (68) and John Senden (70) tied for second.

“I might go take a picture of the scoreboard since I'm tied with Tiger, but I'm not going to worry about getting ready for a playoff,” Thatcher said when he ended his round soon after Woods was starting his. “I'm sure he's going to make my day a moot point.” Indeed he did. With the 69 wins, Woods trails just Jack Nicklaus (73) and Sam Snead (82). Woods reached victory No. 69 at the age 33 years, 7 seven months - almost seven years quicker than Nicklaus and eight years sooner than Snead. Since the 2006 British Open, Woods has won 21 of 39 starts on the PGA Tour.

Funk captures U.S. Senior Open

CARMEL, Ind. (AP) - Fred Funk won the U.S. Senior Open by six strokes, closing with a 7-under 65 at Crooked Stick for a tournamentrecord 20-under total. Funk, coming off a playoff loss to Loren Roberts last week in the Senior British Open, broke the event mark of 17 under set by Hale Irwin in 2000 at Saucon Valley. Joey Sindelar (70) finished second at 14 under, Russ Cochran (68) was 12 under, and Roberts (64) and Greg Norman (73) followed at 11 under.

Matthew wins first major title

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England (AP) - Catriona Matthew won the Women's British Open for her first major title, beating Karrie Webb by three strokes just 10 weeks after giving birth to her second child.

The 39-year-old Scot birdied three straight holes on the back nine to hold her third-round lead. She closed with a 1-over 71 to finish at 3-under 285 at historic Royal Lytham and St. Annes. Webb finished with a 68.

Paula Creamer (71), Hee-Won Han (70), Ai Miyazato (73) and Christina Kim (74) tied for third at 1 over. Michelle Wie (69) tied for 11th at 4 over, and later was added to the U.S. Solheim Cup team as one of captain Beth Daniel's two picks.

Daniel also selected Juli Inkster for the Aug. 21-23 matches at Rich Harvest Farms in Illinois. They will join qualifiers Paula Creamer, Christie Kerr, Angela Stanford, Nicole Castrale, Brittany Lang, Morgan Pressel, Kristy McPherson, Christina Kim, Brittany Lincicome and Natalie Gulbis in the U.S. lineup.

Matthew qualified for the European team with the victory.


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