The PGA Championship

MEDINAH, Ill. – They say architect Tom Bendelow built a tiger of a course in the 1930s, when he remodeled Medinah Country Club’s No. 3 Course.

 

How fitting that generations later a tiger of a golfer, dressed in crimson and black and filled with a hunter’s passion, has taken the course by its tail. Twice.

 

Tiger Woods walked off Medinah’s No. 3 for the second time in six years in victory, Aug. 20, collecting a third PGA Championship, his 12^th major title and accomplishing what no previous winner achieved in the process.

 

Medinah’s hierarchy quickly voted Woods an honorary member.

 

“It’s pretty sweet,” said Woods. “I don’t have to pay dues, either.”

 

Woods overwhelmed his competition with much the same bravado that he exhibited in the early portion of his career, registering a workmanlike 4-under-par 68 for a five-stroke victory and leaving only Nicklaus and his 18 titles in his path.

He opened with a 10-foot birdie to take the lead from playing partner Luke Donald, and never looked back.

Just a month after he marched to victory in the British Open, finishing 18-under-par using a 2-iron as his primary weapon on rock-hard fairways, Woods negotiated Medinah’s lush doglegged fairways by choosing his 5-wood as his club du jour and finishing things off with a sizzling putter.

He also is the first player in history go consecutive years winning at least two majors.

Woods built a four-shot lead after nine holes, and had things in cruise control to finish at 18-under 270. Shaun Micheel, the 2003 PGA Champion, elevated his own game at a course that he said reminded him of his Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y. But, his closing 69 was not enough to challenge.

Donald, bidding to become the first European-born PGA Champion since 1930, slumped to a 74 and finished tied for third at 276 with Australia’s Adam Scott, who had a 67, and Spain’s Sergio Garcia, who posted a 70.

“He's just too good,” said Micheel. “Unless you're at the top of your game, you just can't play with him.”

Said Donald, who got up close and personal observation of the Champion throughout the final round, “He has great mental belief in himself. He kind of will it in the hole.”

When asked about his father, who died of cancer in May, Woods recalled Pops’ first putting lesson.

"I kept saying all day, 'Just putt to the picture.' That's how I first learned how to putt," Woods said. "He actually knew what he was talking about."

In addition to his opening birdie, Woods knocked home “bombs,” 40-foot birdie putts on the sixth and eighth holes.

Woods continued a remarkable streak in major championships, moving to 12-0 when either leading or sharing the 54-hole lead.

So dominant was this performance that Woods made only three bogeys the entire week, including a harmless one on the par-3 17th hole over Lake Kadijah when he was playing it safe. All that cost him was the scoring record in relation to par. He settled for 18 under, the same score he posted at Valhalla in 2000.

It was the fifth major that Woods won by at least five shots. He now has won his 12 majors by a combined 56 shots, while Nicklaus won his 18 majors by 44 shots.

“I wish my Dad was here, to be honest with you,” said Woods. “It’s another chapter in my life but I think about Pops all the time. Today, I definitely think Pops was in my ear.”

Results
Course Average		Under Par	At Par	Over Par	Low Rounds	Round Leader	Tiger Woods
Round 1:	72.72	60	21	75	66 Chris Riley, Lucas Glover	66 Chris Riley, Lucas Glover	69
Round 2:	72.55	61	18	75	66 Olin Browne	136 Billy Andrade, Henrick Stenson, Luke Donald, Tim Herron	137
Round 3:	72.07	28	7	35	65 Mike Weir, Tiger Woods	202 Luke Donald, Tiger Woods	202
Round 4:	73.19	21	9	40	66 Chad Campbell	270 Tiger Woods	270
Totals:	72.63	170	55	225