Collated ScoresGolf: Tiger Woods held off the challenge off Stuart Appleby, Tim Herron and Vijay Singh to win the World Golf Championships American Express Championship in Atlanta by two shots after shooting a final round of 72 for a four-round total of six under-par 274.
Meanwhile, Padraig Harrington finished in style by firing a fine, four-under-par 66 yesterday, his one under par 279 total leaving him tied for sixth place.
Compatriot Darren Clarke was already winging his way to Las Vegas as Harrington finished, after handing in a 68 to finish way down the field on 11-over-par 291.
Harrington bogeyed the second after missing the green left, finishing below the hole from where he had no shot, but he made up for the lapse in a big way when after finally hitting a straight drive at the 315-yard fifth, he finished 30 feet from the flag and holed out for an eagle two.
A second two went on the card at the next with the Dubliner holing from six feet, and he was now two-under for the round and back in the top 10 on the leaderboard, as he had been during Saturday's third round before dropping three shots in his final five holes.
It didn't last, as a poor chip to 10 feet cost one dropped shot at the eighth, followed immediately by another lost stroke at the ninth, after a similar error.
A 10-footer for birdie went astray at the par five 12th, only for the ball to disappear for birdie from twice that distance at the next. And with a 40-footer finding the hole at 16 for his third birdie of the day, Harrington was back to two under for the tournament with two to play, and back inside the top 10.
He still wasn't done for the day as another long putt went in at 17, this time from 15 feet, and just as it seemed he would have to settle for a 67 he chipped in at the home hole, a huge roar from the large crowd in the stands heralding his feat.
Clarke, who began his day playing in the fifth two-ball early in the morning at 13 over par, made two birdies in his first four holes and was consistently hitting fairways and greens, something he singularly failed to do when compiling his 12-over-par 82 on Friday.
The improvement came to a sudden halt when he three-putted the par three sixth, where he missed from four feet, and another stroke was dropped at the 11th where he failed to get up and down from the edge of the green.
There were compensating birdies at the 12th and 15th and a save from the sand at the 72nd hole after yet another perfect tee-shot had been seemingly wasted, yet in spite of the 68 being his best score of the four days, the week was a disappointment for the Dungannon man who had nurtured hopes of at least another top-10 finish when he arrived here on Monday.
Clarke moves on to Las Vegas this week in an attempt to improve his position on the US money list, the Tour Championship for the top 30 players being his target the first week of November in Houston, as having finished well behind Ernie Els this week he has virtually kissed goodbye to any realistic chance of winning the Volvo Order of Merit back home.
Clarke conceded as such yesterday, declaring that Els was a worthy winner of a title the Ulsterman wants almost as much as a major.
"Ernie has played consistently better over a long period than I have and he deserves it. I just happened to win one of the bigger tournaments, which gave me my chance."
At the start of this week Clarke was €770,915 behind Els and needed a really good week, with the South African having a bad one. But it was not to be.
"This week," said Clarke, "I have finished 11 over par but I have given every shot I have played, even in that 82, 100 per cent concentration. That may not always have been the case in the past but this week I have simply not scored well enough.
"Take the 82. I lost the feel on the greens and if you do that on surfaces as fast as these have been you are in trouble. In professional golf, the game works backwards from the greens. If you lose your confidence there it goes through the bag and eventually you start missing fairways.
"With the rough in the state it's in this week that means chipping out, hitting a wedge to, say, 10 feet, and then of course you miss the putt. It's very frustrating, but at least I feel I'm dealing with it better."
As Clarke continues to improve Colin Montgomerie is heading for his worst season since his first full year on the European Tour, in 1988. He was 52nd then, 14th the following year and for the next 12 years was never out of the top six and won the Order of Merit in seven successive seasons. So far this year he is 27th and his play last week gave no indication of any improvement. A final-round 76 gave him a 15-over total of 295, tied for 53rd.
Although the final day was completely calm, the course was still taking prisoners, aided by difficult pin placements.
Leading final totals: 274 - Tiger Woods 67 66 69 72 276 - Stuart Appleby 71 68 69 68, Tim Herron 66 72 67 71, Vijay Singh 70 70 64 72 ; 277 - David Toms 73 72 67 65; 279 - Padraig Harrington 71 73 69 66; K.J. Choi 67 71 68 73; 281 - Paul Casey 73 71 66 71, Retief Goosen 1 73 69 67 72 282 - Fred Couples 71 73 70 68.
