Australian Geoff Ogilvy put himself in the major limelight with a victory at the World Golf Championships-CA Championships at the Doral Resort in Miami, Florida.
Not only did he become only the third player with more than one WGC title but he also ended the winning streak of Tiger Woods, another with more than one title.
Woods had won his five previous PGA Tour titles and, despite a fighting performance and a rain delay, was unable to dislodge the sturdy Ogilvy from the top position he had held for most of the tournament.
Ogilvy scored a final round of one-under 71 to finish at 17-under and win by one stroke over Retief Goosen, Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh. All the three runners-up closed with 68.
Woods finished just two strokes behind the winner at 15 under for the tournament after his final round of 68 to secure fifth place.
Woods and Darren Clarke were the only players with more than one WGC wins but Ogilvy, who won the 2006 US Open and the 2006 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, has now joined the club.
The Australian made nine pars on the final day and, as he told media afterwards, felt it was not good enough to win the tournament.
“I didn’t think nine pars would do it. Holding off the group is pretty nice. There was a fair bit of talent on the leaderboard. It’s nice to come in in front of them, ending the Woods’ streak.â€
Woods was hardly disappointed with his performance, given he managed to finish close to the leader in the final standings. He said he brought an error-strewn game to Miami but is hoping to be in the best shape possible for his next assignment, the Masters at Augusta.
Woods, who ruined his chances with 72 in the third round, said on the US PGA Tour website:
“I had a shot at it and just came up short. I think it’s a great sign, what happened this week, to make that many mistakes and only be two back. You want to always win every one you play in so you’ve just got to get ready for the next one.â€
Tiger started five shots behind the leader with seven holes left after bad weather forced the tournament to spill over on to Monday. Although he made a charge, he was unable to trouble Ogilvy.
On the European Tour, Alastair Forsyth beat Hennie Otto in a play-off to win the Madeira Islands Open BPI – Portugal title at the Santo da Serra course.
Both players had finished the tournament at 15-under-par 273 but Forsyth shot a birdie three at the first extra hole to claim the title.
It was a repeat of 12 years ago when Forsyth beat Otto in the play-off at the Scottish Amateur Stroke Play tournament, although that went to nine holes.
It was his second European Tour triumph having won the the Malaysian Open in 2002 with a play-off victory over Stephen Leaney.
Third place went to England’s Gary Clark, who was alone at 11 under par.
