Tiger Woods beats Love III in Match Play
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-03-01 08:54

Tiger Woods simply has no match. Spraying his tee shots all over the course, Woods went 25 holes before he finally took the lead Sunday, then roared past Davis Love III with key putts to win the Match Play Championship for the second straight year, 3 and 2.

"I was in quite a few places where I was in trouble," Woods said. "The good ol' flat stick is the great equalizer."

Woods won for the 40th time on the PGA Tour in just his 149th start, the quickest anyone has reached that milestone. Jack Nicklaus played 221 events before he won his 40th tournament.

Woods earned $1.2 million, the biggest prize to date on the PGA Tour, and reminded everyone who's No. 1 in the world - and who's the best when the world gets together.

He won for the eighth time in the 14 official World Golf Championships he has played.

Even more impressive is his back-to-back victories in the Accenture Match Play Championship, the most unpredictable format in golf because of the five 18-hole matches required to get to the finals.

Woods thrives on this format.

"Right from the first tee, it's eyeball-to-eyeball," he said. "That to me is a great rush."

His amateur record was among the best ever - three straight U.S. Junior Amateurs, followed by three straight U.S. Amateur titles. His professional record is starting to catch up, now 20-3 in this event.

His game wasn't sharp Sunday, but Love helped make sure that wasn't a factor by missing a half-dozen putts inside 10 feet and failing to answer once Woods finally took the lead.

"He was missing fairways the first 18 holes, and I let him get away with it," Love said. "I played pretty good. I just didn't have it on the greens."

He also had to deal with a heckler who let out a "Whoop!" when Love missed a par putt on the 20th hole that squared the match.

The fan started saying, "No Love!" as Love stepped to his ball on the fifth tee. He sought out the fan and said, "We're not leaving until he's out of here."

They got the fan out of there - and it wasn't long before Woods took Love out of the match.

Woods wasn't nearly dominant as last year, when he needed only 112 holes over five days.

He couldn't find a fairway in the morning session and was lucky to be only one down after the first 18 holes. Woods had to save par from behind the first green when the afternoon session began, squared the match when Love missed the second green and made bogey, and then it was a matter of who would take control.

The odds were on Woods, although no one could have guessed it would happen on No. 7.

Woods shoved another drive into the deep rough, behind two trees with a small gap between the branches. Woods took a mighty swing with a 9-iron from 126 yards and didn't see the ball until it dropped behind the flag, stopping 12 feet away against the fringe.

Caddie Steve Williams reached out to take the club, and Woods gave him a fist-tap, removed his cap, then closed his eyes and exhaled as he slowly placed the cap back on his head.

The birdie gave him a 1-up lead, and Woods found an extra gear.

After another drive into the right rough on the par-5 eighth, he laid up and punched his third shot into 4 feet for birdie to win another hole, then seized control for good on the ninth when Love found the rough and made bogey.

Love missed several chances in the morning, none more crucial than a 5-foot birdie putt on the par-5 11th at a time he was poised to take a 3-up lead.

His last opportunity came on the same hole in the afternoon.

Love had a 4-foot birdie putt to cut the deficit to 2 up, and was stunned when it rolled around the rim of the cup. He failed to apply any pressure the rest of the way, and Woods closed him out on the 16th hole.

"He's tough to beat once he gets ahead," Love said.

Love knows that as well as anyone. It was the fourth time he has finished runner-up to Woods, and he is now 0-3 in match play. That includes the semifinals of the 2000 Match Play Championship, the '99 Grand Slam of Golf.

Still, he's never had a chance as good as this one.

Woods hit only two fairways on the front nine in the morning session, and Love twice made birdies outside of him, including the 10th hole for a 2-up lead.

But the par-5 11th was a stunning turnaround.

Woods nearly hit his drive out of bounds, and while he recovered, he hit his wedge to about 20 feet. Love came up short and into a bunker on his second shot, but hit a good shot out to 5 feet.

Woods made his birdie putt and Love pushed his to the right. What might have been a 3-up lead for Love was suddenly 1 up, and Woods caught him by stuffing his tee shot into 8 feet for birdie.

"I just didn't finish holes off when I had a chance," Love said.

When Woods returned to the PGA Tour at the start of the month, the talk centered on how much Vijay Singh had closed the gap on him.

Woods finished higher than Singh in all three of his tournaments, and he was unbeatable again at La Costa Resort.

"He can play the game no matter what rules you put out there," Love said. "But he's a very good match-play player."