Dubai Desert Classic: As victories go this was uglier than the big-beak silver trophy he walked away with after it was all over, but once again Tiger Woods proved he has the psychological strength to overcome the most glaring physical mistakes yesterday when he beat Ernie Els at the first extra hole to win the Dubai Desert Classic.
"I got fortunate, very fortunate," the world number one said with commendable honesty after a club-throwing, tree-bashing, ball-spraying 18 holes around the relatively benign Emirates course. But as is becoming the way of things in the world of golf, Woods still found a way to win a tournament while those around did their best to throw it away.
Last Sunday it was Jose-Maria Olazabal, who missed a three-foot putt to hand Woods a win in the PGA tour's Buick Invitational. Yesterday it was initially the Australian Richard Green, who bogeyed the relatively easy final hole when a birdie would have been good enough to win, and finally Els, who hit his tee-shot at the first play-off hole deep into the desert.
Woods, meanwhile, hit one of his few straight tee-shots, which enabled him to make birdie and take the €330,000 first prize.
As might be expected of a player with his desire, not to mention bank balance, Woods was more delighted with the method of his victory than the financial benefits that accrued from it, not least because he was able to correct a destructive swing fault halfway through the round.
"Anyone can win when they are playing well. It is when you have an opportunity to turn it round and somehow end up on top, that's the most satisfying thing of all," he said.
Darren Clarke was five under par on the back nine yesterday to shoot a 67 and jump up the leaderboard to 15 under and tied for seventh, while Damien McGrane closed with a 70 to finish on nine under.
That was the same mark as Peter Lawrie, who had started the day tied for eighth, but who signed for an expensive three-over 75, including a triple bogey at the last.
Woods's record in play-offs now stands at 13 wins and one defeat, to the American Billy Mayfair in the Nissan Open in 1998. Mayfair is not broke, having enjoyed a decent career on the PGA tour, but he could make a great deal of money if he sold the secret of his success. As for Tiger's play-off secret - he made it sound almost banal.
"I think it's just experience. I've been there enough times and I've had success. You just try to make birdie and then whatever happens happens. You've got to play aggressively, because one shot is all you have and you try to make birdie before your opponent does."
It also helps if you play well enough over the preceding 18 holes to get into the play-off, and for almost the entirety of yesterday's round Woods looked odds-on to fail in this regard.
His troubles began on the short par-four second, where he hooked his drive under trees to the left of the green, hit his second into a bunker to the right of the green and fluffed his third. Pausing momentarily to chuck his sandwedge at his golf bag, he then stepped up and holed a 20-foot putt for par.
"What did I do to fix it? I got the club up a bit more, right on my left arm, got the club in front of me, left hand with more loft coming through," he said to the bemusement of all.
Whatever he did, it worked. By the time he reached the 17th hole of regulation play he knew he needed to birdie the next two to give himself a chance of victory, which is precisely what he did.
* USPGA Tour rookie J.B. Holmes romped to a seven-shot victory at the Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Arizona yesterday. The 23-year-old, returned a five-under-par 66 to finish on 21-under 263 on the Stadium Course at the TPC of Scottsdale.
Ryan Palmer (72) tied for second place with Steve Lowery (67), Scott Verplank (68) and J.J. Henry (72), plus PGA Tour rookie Camilo Villegas of Colombia (69).
