Tiger stamps authority with win at WGC-Cadillac

Tiger Woods won his second tournament of the year in convincing fashion with a two-stroke victory at the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral, closing with a one-under-par 71 in the final round on Sunday. World number two Woods finished with a 19-under-par total for the tournament, with fellow-American Steve Stricker runner-up on 271 after shooting 68 on Sunday. Stricker had given his rival a 45-minute putting session on Wednesday and Woods, who needed just 100 putts in the four rounds, was quick to acknowledge the role his closest challenger had played in his week. [caption id=“attachment_655134” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  World number two Woods finished with a 19-under-par total for the tournament. Getty Images[/caption] “I played well, thank you Steve for the putting lesson. I felt good about how I was playing, I made some putts and got rolling,” he said. Phil Mickelson, Australian Adam Scott, Spain’s Sergio Garcia and Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell were tied for third, five strokes behind Woods. Scott shot the best round of the day and the tournament with a bogey-free eight-under-par 64 on Sunday. Woods had claimed his first win of the year at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines and continued his excellent record in World Golf Championship (WGC) events with a 17th triumph. The victory was his seventh in this tournament in 13 starts. Woods’s fourth career win at Doral marked his fifth U.S. tour win in his last 19 events. McDowell, playing with Woods, created some early pressure with birdies on the first two holes but he lost momentum with a bogey at the fifth and his challenge faded with another on the par-four 11th. Woods, who went into the final round with a four-stroke lead, never looked in danger of losing his grip on the top of the leaderboard and a wobble at the end, with bogeys on the 16th and 18th, was only a minor blemish on what has been an excellent week for the 14-times major winner. World number one Rory McIlroy ended a week of working on his swing troubles with a confidence boosting 65, which moved him into a tie for eighth place nine strokes off the pace. Reuters