World number one Tiger Woods never relinquished the lead he obtained on the second day of the 2007 PGA Championship. It was fait accomplit, an end that everyone expected and that Woods delivered once again; his 13th major win, as only Tiger seems to do it—total domination. Before it was over, two golfers, Woody Austin and Ernie Els, came close to making it a duel in the scorching sun at Southern Hills, Oklahoma. But that close "mano a mano" confrontation never materialized as Tiger used his refined championship winning skills to keep them at bay.
At one point in the last round, Tiger had a five shot lead that was reduced to one until Tiger took assertive command and closed out the tournament with a two shot win.
All four days were extremely hot and humid and tested the golfers' physical endurance. Tiger sweat profusely on the final day, often toweling the sweat off his face, head, and arms.
Tiger grabbed the tournament as his own on the second day by firing a 63, a record-tying low round for a major tournament. It could have been the lowest round ever shot in a major if the ball from his putt on the 18th hole had not surprisingly spun out of the cup after dipping in.
Tiger was six shots back after the first day but was two shots ahead after his phenomenal 63. This record-tying round came on the heels of a spectacular final round 65 in his previous week's win at the World Golf Championships, a tournament he won by 8 shots—a win of dominating proportions against the world's best.
This is two PGA Championships in a row for Tiger and now, with a total of four, he is only one behind Jack Nicklaus's and Walther Hagen's record of five PGA Championship wins. Tiger's previous PGA Championship wins were in 1999, 2000, and 2006.
Records Will Fall
After this win Tiger is 13–0 when leading or co-leading after 54 holes of a major tournament. He now has 59 PGA tour wins. It won't be very long before he breaks Arnold Palmer's record of 62 wins—more than likely by next year. It will be a little longer before he passes Nicklaus's 73 wins, perhaps two or three years from now. And perhaps in five years, with an average of five wins per year, he will surpass Sam Snead's 82 wins.
Tiger won this 13th major at age 31 compared to Nicklaus's 13th major win at 35. Nicklaus competed in 53 majors to win 13; Woods has done it in 44.
Based on his majors winning percentage of almost one out of every three majors played, there is a possibility he can win 19 majors by age 37 and break Nicklaus's long-standing record.
Feeds