Woods dazzles BMW crowd, start to finish

So how does the world's greatest golfer wow after clobbering a course that may or may not be U.S. Open-worthy but certainly baffled some of the game's best players?

He pulls a birdie out of his fitted black cap, a fabulous 4 made spectacular not by 4 great shots but rather a pair that required tricky navigation through mature trees.

The second, truth be told, might have been as spectacular as the 306-yard 3-wood he smacked within 10 feet on the same ninth hole a day earlier and eagled.

Wow.

Tiger Woods whupped woods Sunday. And, surprise, he conquered Cog Hill again.

In winning the BMW Championship for the second time in three years, a title he all but wrapped up Saturday by firing a course-record 62 to give him a 7-shot cushion, Woods jumped ahead of Steve Stricker atop the FedEx Cup standings heading into The Tour Championship in two weeks.

Woods fired a 3-under-par 68 Sunday to finish at 19-under, 8 strokes better than runners-up Marc Leishman and Jim Furyk. Woods' final round also included an eagle on No. 15.

"Yeah, it was a good week," he said. "I hit the ball well. I felt like I basically hit the ball the same as I have been. The only difference is I made a few more putts this week and got some momentum."

The win was Woods' 71st all time, sixth this year and fifth at Cog Hill. He won the inaugural BMW Championship in Lemont two years ago and hoisted the Western Open trophy in 2003, 1999 and 1997.

Though he didn't win a major, he called this year "absolutely" one of the best in his career, especially considering he wasn't sure how he would hold up physically or how well he would play after undergoing knee surgery last year.

"I've been extremely consistent all year - top-10'ed just about every week I played," Woods said. "To come off a knee surgery and to have had this type of year is something that I'm very proud of."

An early-morning fog delayed tee times and bumped players into threesomes. When the fog rolled out, Woods emerged.

Wearing his Sunday red, and playing with Brandt Snedeker and Australian rookie Leishman, both of whom started the day at 9 under, Woods played par golf until bogeying No. 5.

He got the shot back with a 3 on No. 7.

On the par-5 ninth, he sprayed his tee shot into the trees, flipping his club in disgust and nearly hitting himself in the head with it.

"Nine was a good tee shot - I hit it about 60 yards right of the fairway," Woods said.

Then came his pair of recovery shots.

The first tunneled through trees, rolled through the fairway and came to rest behind a tree as thick as a nose tackle.

He punched a 9-iron, somehow keeping his ball below a branch and, more amazingly, drawing it. The ball hopped up on the green and stopped within 15 feet. When he drained the putt, the stunned crowd erupted.

"I think I had either 106 or 109 (yards) to the hole," Woods said. "I just kept telling myself it's a 9-iron, but I just got to hit it about 50 yards in the air and just make sure I hook it."

Poor Leishman. He could have picked up potentially 3 shots to get within 4 of Woods. Instead, despite his own birdie, he gained nary a stroke.

"When he hit that (third) shot, I actually just started laughing," Leishman said. "I looked at Matty (caddie). It was such a good shot."

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Story</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=321145">Dubsdread not rough enough <span class="date">[9/14/09]</span></a></li> </ul> <div class="moreSubHead"> Photo Gallery </div> <ul class="moreGallery"> <li><a href="/story/?id=321138" class="mediaItem">Sunday at the BMW Championship</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>