Tiger Woods beat a TPC Sawgrass course that has tormented him in recent history to win The Players Championship on Sunday with a 13-under, two-stroke victory over David Lingmerth, Kevin Streelman and Jeff Maggert.
Sergio Garcia was tied for the lead late, but he dropped six shots to par on the final two holes to finish well off the pace.
This was Tiger's first-career win on Mother's Day, and it was the earliest in the calendar year that he has picked up his fourth PGA win of the season.
After weather interrupted the third round, Woods finished his third round on Sunday morning playing alongside Sergio Garcia. The two both played solid, finishing their final four holes at one-under to sit tied for the 54-hole lead at 11-under par.
However, with David Lingmerth also completing the round at 11-under, Garcia and Woods were not paired in the final group. Lingmerth and Garcia comprised the final group.
This was unfortunate. As it would have been great theater to watch Garcia and Woods go toe-to-toe for the final 18 after a contentious third round—highlighted by ESPN's Bob Harig here.
The situation at the top of the leaderboard was bad news for every golfer not named Tiger, as the legend had won a remarkable 51-of-55 PGA tournaments where he has had at least a share of the 54-hole lead.
Given that stat, there didn't figure to be a lot of drama on Sunday, and for his part, Tiger looked intent on rolling his way to an easy win.
Tiger was struggling a bit off the tee, but he was hitting his irons wonderfully, and while had the five missed birdie putts, he was close. Woods rolled several of those misses right off the edge, and there was nothing to suggest he was going to make any mistakes that would allow anyone to catch up.
Lingmerth, Jeff Maggert and Kevin Streelman were all piecing together solid rounds and spent Sunday right in contention.
Most notably, Garcia was also right there. With one birdie and a bodey on the front, Garcia began the final nine at 12-under. A birdie on the par-three 13th moved Garcia to 11-under, which was good enough to give him a share of the lead.
After Woods birdied No. 13, he stepped up to the 14th tee and gave the field the opening they needed as he splashed his tee shot in the water. Tiger hit an amazing shot following his drop, but after missing a relatively easy look at bogey, he couldn't get up and down and carded a double, to fall into a tie for first.
With a bounce-back par on the 15th, and then a solid birdie on the par-5 16th hole, Woods body language wasn't hurting his play, and the birdie on 16 moved him back into sole possession of the lead.
Tiger drilled a solid par on the island-green No. 17, and Garcia hit No. 17 knowing he would likely need a birdie on one of the difficult two closing holes to force a playoff.
He left his tee shot short and wet on No. 17 while his playing partner Lingmerth, who was 12-under, drilled his tee shot.
Lingmerth went on to miss his 7-foot birdie effort, and with Garcia earning a bogey, the drama was beginning to fade.
Woods went with an aggressive play on his approach as he went for the pin, and he drilled it. He narrowly missed his birdie attempt and tapped in for par.
With Garcia adding to his disintegration, he splashed down off the tee on No. 18. This left it all on Lingmerth who needed a birdie to force a playoff. He was just off the fairway with his drive, but he had a solid look on his approach.
Lingmerth hit a solid approach but left himself far too much work. While he gave the long birdie putt a run, he missed, and as the ball cruised past the hole, Tiger began to celebrate in the clubhouse.
He was not so engrossed in celebration that he forgot about his mom. And, given the late dramatics, he offered up this to the cameras, which was passed along by CBS:
Given his struggles on this course in recent history, this was an impressive showing for Woods, and it will only cement his status as the favorite for the U.S. Open.
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