Tiger Woods cruised to his first victory in five years and No. 80 of his career Sunday at the Tour Championship. Here’s the lowdown from the final round at East Lake.
Leaderboard: Tiger Woods (-11), Billy Horschel (-9), Dustin Johnson (-7), Hideki Matsuyama (-6), Webb Simpson (-6), Justin Rose (-6)
What it means: Coming off four back surgeries, Woods didn’t know if he would play competitive golf again. Now, he has win No. 80 of his career after a vintage performance at the Tour Championship. Woods started the day with a three-shot lead, birdied the first hole and never looked back. His closest pursuers, Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy, never put any pressure on Woods. Woods’ lead got down to two strokes after bogeys at 15 and 16, but a clutch par putt on 17 gave him a two-shot cushion. The 14-time major champ is now two wins away from Sam Snead’s all-time wins record after collecting his third Tour Championship title.
Round of the day: Outside of Woods’ clinical performance, Hideki Matsuyama and Rickie Fowler both shot 5-under 65s to finish in the top seven.
Best of the rest: Billy Horschel fired a 4-under 66 to finish in second place.
Biggest disappointment: McIlroy (74) and Rose (73) were both three behind Woods starting the day, but they didn’t put up a fight. McIlroy was 4 over par on the front nine, and Rose fell apart on the back nine and had to make birdie on 18 just to win the FedExCup title.
Shot of the day: Woods holed a 3-foot par putt on the 17th hole to keep a two-shot lead heading to 18.