He’s done it! Tiger ties PGA Tour record with Japan win
Zozo Championship report: What happened at Narashino CC?
Tiger Woods made history once more by winning his 82nd PGA Tour title to tie Sam Snead’s record for the most wins.
Woods spent quite some time on 79 victories but since returning from his fused back surgery has won the Tour Championship last year and of course this year’s Masters to close in on Snead.
- Comment: The win they said would never happen
The Zozo Championship was the first PGA Tour event in Japan and it produced the ideal scenario with Woods leading the pack and homegrown star, Hideki Matsuyama, trying to hunt him down.
A rare Monday finish was required after the second round was delayed until Saturday due to a typhoon (more on that later).
This meant that although they tried to fit the final two rounds in on Sunday, they ran out of light and had to conclude the final round on Monday morning.
Woods was in control from the very beginning after opening with back-to-back rounds of 6-under 64.
He backed this up with a third-round 66 and this marked just the fourth time in 359 starts on the PGA Tour that he has started with three rounds of 66 or lower.
He carried a three-shot lead into the final round and would have been paired with Matsuyama had it not been for the bizarre weather situations causing the groups not to be altered.
Having played the first 11 holes of his final round in 2-under, play was delayed until Monday with Woods still maintaining his three-shot lead.
Tiger came out on Monday and looked a little nervous on the 12th, his first hole of the day. After finding the greenside bunker he dropped a shot and cut his lead to two.
A birdie at the 14th saw him restore his full lead as Matsuyama missed his birdie putt at 15.
Pars at 15, 16 and 17 and birdie at 18 followed for Woods while Matsuyama was unable to make any further progress in his hunt to catch Tiger.
With a score of 19-under Tiger recorded his 82nd PGA Tour victory.
- Final Zozo Championship leaderboard
- Zozo Championship prize money
- What’s in Woods’ winning bag?
- Which players have the most PGA Tour wins?
Zozo Championship report: What the winner said
“It’s just crazy,” Woods said after his win.
"It's just crazy … it's a lot."
A special, but stressful, win for @TigerWoods. #LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/vuOt4pYIE7
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 28, 2019
You can watch Tiger’s winning press conference here:
🏆 @TigerWoods' winning press conference after his historic 82nd PGA TOUR victory at the @ZOZOCHAMP. 🎙️ https://t.co/440RZNilxi
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 28, 2019
When asked about whether or not he would pick himself for the Presidents Cup, he quipped: “I think the player definitely got the captain’s attention.”
Zozo Championship report: Photo of the week
Well, not of this week, but still…
If he only knew …
The only two with 82. pic.twitter.com/6B4s3oYg5E
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 28, 2019
Zozo Championship report: Anything else?
Due to the torrential rain that the course was subjected to, there had to be some alterations made in several areas.
The wet conditions meant it was deemed unsafe for spectators to be present on the grounds on Saturday but they were able to return in their droves on Sunday.
It meant the course played pretty soft throughout the week and there was one hole in particular that was drastically changed for the second round.
The fairway of the 10th hole was completely flooded, as you can see from Ian Poulter’s video, so the decision was taken to use a makeshift tee box and shorten the hole.
This became just 140 yards which is particularly short for a par 3 but this wasn’t a par 3. The 10th was a par 4 and it was decided that this would remain the case despite the shortening.
As you would expect in this situation most of the field took advantage and made birdie or eagle, a par would be a disappointment.
There were in fact 16 eagles, 52 birdies and eight pars which shows two players failed to make as 4.
Joe Hughes
Tour editor covering men's golf, women's golf and anything else that involves the word golf, really. The talk is far better than the game, but the work has begun to change that.
