AP/The Huffington Post | Posted: 01/28/2013 6:08 pm EST | Updated: 01/28/2013 8:41 pm EST
Tiger Woods opened his 2013 PGA season with a victory in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Back on the course where he won the 2008 U.S. Open, Woods delivered a vintage 14-under performance amidst the fog that plagued the event, causing the fourth round to stretch into Monday. Although his struggles on the final holes brought him closer to the field on the leaderboard, Woods appeared in a class of his own throughout much of the tournament. Woods carried a six-shot lead into Monday with 11 holes to play.
Sporting his signature Sunday red shirt beneath a black vest as he played the South Course on Monday, Woods relegated Jimmy Walker, Nick Watney, Josh Teater and Brandt Snedeker to scrambling for second place. Although a double-bogey on the 15th hole and a bogey on 17 added a glimmer of drama to Woods’ final shots, Snedeker and Teater still finished four strokes back in a tie for second place.
Per PGA.com, Woods’ largest margin of victory was a 12-stroke triumph at the 1997 Masters. Before working through a bit of adversity toward the end of his last round, Woods had stretched his lead to eight strokes and looked like he could make a push for his fifth ever double-digit margin.
“It got a little ugly toward the end,” Woods said after the win. “I started losing patience a little bit with the slow play. I lost my concentration a little bit.”
Coming with far less drama than his Torrey Pines playoff win over Rocco Mediate at the ’08 Open, this was Woods’ eighth career win at Torrey Pines and his 75th PGA Tour win overall. The 37-year-old Woods began his 2013 campaign in Abu Dhabi last week but failed to make the cut after being penalized for incorrectly taking a drop during the second round.
“I think he wanted to send a message,” said Hunter Mahan, who finished at 6-under and tied for 15th place. “I think deep down he did. You play some games to try to motivate yourself. There’s been so much talk about Rory (McIlroy). Rory is now with Nike. That would be my guess.”