Red Storm Rising
BETHESDA, MARYLAND | What if they held a
PGA Tour event and nobody showed up to watch?
That’s about what happened Saturday at the
AT&T National at Congressional, when high
winds Friday night blew down more than 40
trees and left a trail of broken limbs and piles
of debris all over the course. Tournament officials, concerned about safety issues, decided
to keep spectators and most volunteers away
from the course on a day when Tiger Woods
quietly made his move toward the top of the
leaderboard, accompanied by the sound of
silence most of the way around.
Woods finished off that ascent on Sunday,
when the fans were back in massive numbers,
engaging in a thrilling duel down the back nine
against first-round leader Bo Van Pelt. When
Van Pelt bogeyed the 16th and 17th holes,
Woods pounced on those mistakes and eventually claimed a two-shot victory when he made
par on his final two holes.
“I remember there was a time when people
were saying I could never win again,” Woods
said Sunday evening. “That was six months
ago. Here we are. ... A lot of media people didn’t
think I could win again. I could see the pieces
coming together. It’s just a matter of time. Just
stay the course. Give me a little bit of time, and
I feel like this is what I can do.”
Van Pelt’s 50-foot birdie chip to tie at the
final hole missed the cup by inches and he also
missed the six-foot comebacker for one last
bogey. He finished with a 71 and 6-under 278
total that left him in solo second, a shot ahead of
third place finisher Adam Scott (67-279).
A shot off the lead after 54 holes, Woods had
a final-round 69 and 72-hole total of 8-under
276 to become the PGA Tour’s only three-time
winner this season. He also won his own invi-
tational event for the second time (he prevailed
here in 2009), adding that to the 2012 trophies
from the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando
and Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament at
Muirfield Village.
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