It started shaky but ended a familiar way for Tiger Woods — surrounded by hula dancers on the 18th green, wearing a floral lei and posing with a trophy.
Woods rallied to win the PGA Grand Slam of Golf for a record seventh straight time, closing with a bogey-free 6-under 66 on Wednesday to beat Jim Furyk by two strokes in Poipu Beach, Hawaii.
Tiger Woods poses with the trophy after winning his record seventh Grand Slam of Golf title.
(Chris Carlson/Associated Press)
Woods has owned Poipu, also winning in 1998, '99, '00, '01, '02 and '05. He finished second to Ernie Els in '97 in his only other appearance in the event.
The British Open and PGA champion, who started the day three shots behind Furyk, finished the 36-hole tournament with an 8-under 136 total to earn $500,000 US, giving him more than $3 million in career Grand Slam winnings.
"I certainly played better than I did yesterday," Woods said. "[I] gave myself some chances. Overall, I really hit the ball crisp and clear today, which was nice."
Furyk, the world's No. 2 golfer behind Woods, closed with a 71 to take home $300,000. U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy (74) was six strokes back and earned $250,000.
Canadian Mike Weir (74) was last at 1-over and made $200,000.
Last year, Woods closed with a 64 to win by seven strokes over Phil Mickelson, despite losing six pounds because of a stomach virus.
"I've always loved coming here," he said.
Furyk opened with a 67 for a one-stroke lead over Ogilvy and a three-stroke lead over Woods. But he wasn't able to apply any pressure on his opponents, missing several fairways.
"I wasn't firing on all cylinders and not swinging at it nearly as well as I would like to," Furyk said.
Woods used a strong short game to make up for his struggles off the tee during Tuesday's opening round. The 12-time major winner chipped away at the lead until he holed a 25-foot chip on No. 9 to tie Furyk for the lead at 6-under.
Woods took sole possession of the lead on the next hole when Furyk putted a five-footer for par to the left for his first bogey of the tournament. It was Woods's first lead in the tournament since he birdied the second hole of the opening round.
Woods reached 7-under and took a two-stroke lead with a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 15. Furyk was inside Woods, but two-putted from six feet.
Woods made his move early, sinking short putts on Nos. 2 and 3 for birdie, pulling within a stroke of Furyk.
"I thought that was probably the most ideal start I could have had, to pick up two shots that fast," Woods said.
The Americans both birdied the 573-yard sixth to pull away from Ogilvy and Weir.
Weir, who was followed by about a dozen friends from Canada, was never able to challenge for the lead with two birdies, two bogeys and a triple bogey on the 179-yard seventh that dropped him to 2-over on the day.
Weir and Furyk were selected as alternates based on their performances in the four majors. Two spots were open because Woods claimed two majors and Masters winner Mickelson declined to play.
The tournament concludes Woods's dominant year that saw eight wins on tour but marred by the death of his father, Earl, of cancer May 3.
