With a 50-foot birdie putt that got him back on track Sunday, Tiger Woods matched the lowest final round of his career with an 8-under-par 63 that shattered the scoring record at Cog Hill and gave him a two-shot victory at the BMW Championship in Lemont, Ill.
Woods took the lead for good with a 12-foot birdie on the 13th hole and kept his distance from Aaron Baddeley and Steve Stricker with a swing so solid that he missed only two fairways all weekend.
Woods took only 25 putts in the final round, five fewer than a third round in which he was disappointed with a 65.
“That’s what has been missing all week,” Woods said. “Today, I finally felt comfortable.”
Woods’ 63 matched the tournament record, and he finished at 22-under 262, breaking by five shots the record he set four years ago at Cog Hill. It also gave him a commanding lead with one week remaining in the FedEx Cup.
Woods goes to East Lake in Atlanta with a 3,133-point lead over Steve Stricker, who finished third at Cog Hill, and a 4,120-point edge over Phil Mickelson, who didn’t play here.
Mickelson, the Deutsche Bank Championship winner last week, will have to win to have any hopes of capturing the FedEx Cup and the $10 million prize. If Stricker does not win at East Lake, Woods could win the cup by finishing second.
All that mattered at the moment was winning at Cog Hill for the fourth time. It was Woods’ sixth victory of the year and the 60th in his 11 years on the PGA Tour. He earned $1.26 million to go over $9 million for the fourth time in his career.
Baddeley closed with a 66, while Stricker bogeyed his final hole for a 68 to finish four shots behind.
LPGA: Stacy Lewis was the first-round leader at the rain-shortened LPGA NW Arkansas Championship – and she’ll have to settle for that. The LPGA Tour shortened the event from 54 holes to 18, setting up a strange finish on a nearly empty course in Rogers, Ark.
Only 32 players hadn’t finished when play resumed Sunday, and the final day was closed to the public. Lewis, an amateur, finished her first round Saturday at 7-under 65. Lewis, the NCAA champion, isn’t considered an official winner because the tournament did not last at least 36 holes.
Walker Cup: Jonathan Moore hit a 4-iron within 4 feet for eagle on the 18th hole to give the Americans the final point they needed to capture the Walker Cup in Newcastle, Northern Ireland, the first time in 16 years they have won away from home.
European PGA: Brett Rumford holed a 30-foot chip from the fringe on the first hole of a playoff with Phillip Archer to win the European Masters in Crans-sur-Sierre, Switzerland.
The 30-year-old Australian had a 3-under 68 to match Archer (65) at 16-under 268. Defending champion Bradley Dredge (69) was a stroke back.
