South Korean K.J. Choi captured his second title in the last
five weeks with a three-stroke victory at the Tiger Woods
invitational tournament on a sweltering Sunday at Congressional
Country Club.
Choi steadied himself after a shaky mid-round stretch when he
bogeyed the 10th, 11th and 13th to fall a stroke behind Steve
Stricker, who was bidding for his first title in six years.
But the 37-year-old responded with birdies on 15 and 17 to
finish with a final-round 68, three strokes ahead of Stricker. Choi
fired a nine-under 271 for the tournament to claim his sixth career
title.
"I just tried to make myself as comfortable as I could .... and
just give it my best shot and approach it like a professional,"
said Choi, who collected more than $1 million for the victory.
"I think all of those factored in to my win. This tournament is
just too big for me to really absorb right now. But it's a very big
win and definitely the biggest win of my career."
Stricker had four birdies on the front nine but none the rest of
the way. While Choi rallied, Stricker bogeyed 11, 14 and 15 to
quickly slide out of contention on a day where temperatures reached
the mid-90s.
"It was a great experience, but not really the results I was
looking for today," said the 40-year-old Tour veteran. "But I can
gain some confidence from this event and hopefully one of these
times finish it off."
Best shot
Choi, who won the Jack Nicklaus-hosted Memorial last month in
Dublin, Ohio, had a stunning birdie on 17, blasting out of a bunker
and into the cup with perhaps the best shot of the tournament.
"I wasn't trying to put it in the hole," he said. "All I was
trying to do was save par. But .... I put the ball exactly where I
wanted to.
"And I guess the speed was right, the undulation, everything was
right and it just went in. It was something that I didn't even
expect. It surprised me."
Woods, who hosted the $6 million tournament, shot a final-round
70 to finish at two-under 278 and in a tie with Australian Robert
Allenby for sixth place.
The world No 1 posted a three-over front nine to end any chance
of making a run at the leaders.
"I did not putt well today," said Woods.
"Left a lot of putts short. I had a lot of trouble getting the
ball to the hole this week. I needed to putt well and they were
just not going to go in."
(China Daily via Agencies July 10, 2007)
