Just when you thought Tiger Woods was heading towards another ho-hum victory, Rory Sabbatini comes along and makes it interesting.
Not by pushing Tiger to the limit. Quite the opposition. In fact, Sabbatini was in last placed when he decided to up and run away from the Target World Challenge in Thousand Oaks, California – a tournament hosted by none other than Tiger Woods.
He also left with around $170,000 for finishing last in the 16-man field.
Woods and Sabbatini have clashed before this season, at the Wachovia tournament where the South African described Woods “as beatable as everâ€.
The American world number one duly went on to win the tournament.
Tiger won at Thousand Oaks as well but he was again left shaking his head in disbelief after he found out that Sabbatini did not even play in the final round.
Varying reports had Sabbatini suffering from shin splints and/or “personal reasonsâ€. It was reported that he was on his way to his Christmas holiday spot of Maui.
It was the first time in the tournament’s history that a pro player failed to complete all four rounds.
Woods apparently held a grim, cold stare when asked how he felt about Sabbatini doing a runner. He told AP:
“I’ve heard he had shin splints. I heard he pulled out for personal reason. He packed his locker up at 3 o’clock yesterday, I think headed to Hawaii. A lot of different things going on. And I’d like to try and get to the bottom of it when I’m done here, and we’ll see what happens.â€
Other players were also unhappy, with Mark Calcavecchia saying it was “Rory being Rory … I don’t think the fans missed him†and British Open champion Padraig Harrington asking: “Is there anything you can say about it?â€
Fred Couples also had a pop. When told Sabbatini’s agent said the player had shin splints, Couples said: “Of course, he did. And Roger Clemens’ agent said he didn’t do steroids”, referring to the American baseball player embroiled in a doping scandal.
Sabbatini’s actions overshadowed a dominant victory by Woods, who won by a record seven strokes after the final round on Sunday.
It was his fourth victory at the Challenge and came after a closing four-under-par 68, helping him to match the tournament record of 22-under.
The victory came after a 10-week break, which means Woods has lost nothing after a long time away from the course and appears eager for another record-breaking season in 2008.
US Masters winner Zach Johnson was second on 15-under with Jim Furyk settling for third place at 13-under.
Two strokes further adrift was England’s Lee Westwood with Henrik Stenson and Steve Stricker tied for fifth on nine-under.
The best quote of Woods’ dominance came from Scot Colin Montgomerie. He said on the PGA Tour website.
“Doesn’t help us, does it? If he took a bloody year off, it wouldn’t help. Never mind 10 weeks.â€
I could quite happily come last every week for $170000, if there are any offers I’ll give up my amateur status gladly