Saturday, 9 March 2013

Florida Swing Special Report Sunday 10 March - WGC-Cadillac Championship Saturday review



The talk of Tiger Woods being “back” should have stopped last March when he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational, he then won The Memorial Tournament and then claimed the title at his own AT&T National to cap a three win season in 2012. Then in January he won again at Torrey Pines. Four wins on four courses he has a combined 21 PGA Tour titles on, and this Sunday Tiger takes a four-stroke lead into the final round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship. He is in command of a tournament on a course which he has already won three times on and on course for a 76th PGA Tour win, 17th World Golf Championship and 89th Official World Ranking tournament win of his incredible career.


The birdie putt on the 18th hole on Saturday really was for me the moment I thought this tournament was in all respects was over. This was Tiger Woods at his dominant and iconic best, making a difficult downhill putt on the final hole at a critical moment, a moment where a three-putt would have shaved his lead to two and not extended it to four as the resultant birdie did. Graeme McDowell showed typical grit and determination to overcome a mid-round wobble in an otherwise outstanding third round and will play in the final group on Sunday with Woods again, something the 2010 US Open champion relishes.


Phil Mickelson was eager to get into the final pairing with Tiger but came up short and will play for a fourth straight day with Steve Stricker, starting 5 shots behind the World Number 2 as he aims to claim a third WGC title and second win at Doral. Stricker won his first World Golf Championship twelve years ago and will also start the final round five shots behind, with Sergio Garcia, Charl Schwartzel, Keegan Bradley, Bubba Watson and last week's winner Michael Thompson a further two shots adrift.

Rory McIlroy had another inconsistent day, three-putting the final hole and sits at 3-under, some 15 shots behind Woods but it is all about four rounds for the World Number One as he tries to find form ahead of The Masters.

The WGC-Cadillac Championship is however all about Tiger Woods.

It has been four long years since Tiger Woods won a World Golf Championship, a series he absolutely dominated more than any other between 1999 and 2009 saw him win 16 World Golf Championships and he will more than likely close on another one tomorrow evening. Even when Woods makes a mistake he seems capable of putting it straight out of his mind and bounces back almost immediately, which is probably the most daunting thing about competing against him now. He is swinging well, holing putts and his mind is as strong as ever, a combination which is seemingly unbeatable. Woods is set to add to the 16 WGC's he has won in his career and set to extend his incredible record lead in terms of wins in the series over the next best of 3 wins, held by Geoff Ogilvy. He may set a record in this series which will never ever be got close to let alone overtaken.

You can see if Tiger can add another win or whether Graeme McDowell or anyone else can come through and surprise the world on Sunday on Golf Channel in the US from 1pm ET and NBC from 3pm ET, and Sky Sports in the UK from 6pm GMT.




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