Spieth clinches World Challenge, Tiger Woods finishes tied 17th
9 Dec 2014 12:00 AM GMT
Spieth pocketed $1 million for his show as he aggregated 26-under 262 with a final round card of 66, breaking the tournament record of 266 set by Woods in 2007 and Davis Love III in 2000.
Woods had won this event in 2001 as a 25-year old to become the youngest champion at that time while Spieth is only 21 and his 10-stroke win has come in a field which features six Major winners and six of the top-10 players. It was also the second title for Spieth in as many weeks, coming into the $3.5 million PGA Tour event after winning Australia Open. He will now jump into the top-10, moving to number nine from 11. It is the second PGA Tour title for Spieth, having won the John Deere Classic last year. World number two Henrik Stenson, who was three under on Monday, was sole second.
Spieth’s victory was on cards when he ended day three at 20-under and he never took his foot off the pedal. None of the players could catch him as he continued to dominate the tough Isleworth Golf and Country Club with confidence and class. He opened the day with a birdie and then hit his 239-yard approach shot on the par-5 seventh hole to 12 feet to sink the putt for an eagle.
His back nine featured a rare double bogey on the par-4 14th hole but he followed it up with a birdie. “Everything in my game was momentum coming off this week. It’s really cool to make my way into the top-10. To crack the top-10 is a tremendous honour. This caps off the best golfing year that I have ever had each year has been a little better than the last. I hope to continuing do so in 2015,” Spieth said. The American said victory last week in Sydney gave him confidence but “winning here in College and playing here twice was important.”
For Woods, coming out of this week pain-free was a big relief but his short game let him down in the tournament. On Monday he managed a bogey free front-nine, which had two birdies but his back nine had a triple bogey on the par-5 13th. He managed to get two birdies. “I had not played for four months and don’t have any pain, which is nice. To go out on the same of these drives like it did this week really enforces what I am doing is right thing for my body,” Woods said.
Woods had won this event in 2001 as a 25-year old to become the youngest champion at that time while Spieth is only 21 and his 10-stroke win has come in a field which features six Major winners and six of the top-10 players. It was also the second title for Spieth in as many weeks, coming into the $3.5 million PGA Tour event after winning Australia Open. He will now jump into the top-10, moving to number nine from 11. It is the second PGA Tour title for Spieth, having won the John Deere Classic last year. World number two Henrik Stenson, who was three under on Monday, was sole second.
Spieth’s victory was on cards when he ended day three at 20-under and he never took his foot off the pedal. None of the players could catch him as he continued to dominate the tough Isleworth Golf and Country Club with confidence and class. He opened the day with a birdie and then hit his 239-yard approach shot on the par-5 seventh hole to 12 feet to sink the putt for an eagle.
His back nine featured a rare double bogey on the par-4 14th hole but he followed it up with a birdie. “Everything in my game was momentum coming off this week. It’s really cool to make my way into the top-10. To crack the top-10 is a tremendous honour. This caps off the best golfing year that I have ever had each year has been a little better than the last. I hope to continuing do so in 2015,” Spieth said. The American said victory last week in Sydney gave him confidence but “winning here in College and playing here twice was important.”
For Woods, coming out of this week pain-free was a big relief but his short game let him down in the tournament. On Monday he managed a bogey free front-nine, which had two birdies but his back nine had a triple bogey on the par-5 13th. He managed to get two birdies. “I had not played for four months and don’t have any pain, which is nice. To go out on the same of these drives like it did this week really enforces what I am doing is right thing for my body,” Woods said.
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