Tiger Woods blew a four-shot lead and saw the Chevron World Challenge slip through his fingers after Graeme McDowell birdied on the 18th hole in regulation and then managed to do it again during the first playoff hole on Dec. 5th. McDowell ended the round at three-under par for 69, while Woods finished at a one-over par 73. This led to some great golf betting in the last holes as always lately when TIger is involved.
Woods lost the lead when he double-bogeyed on the 13th hole and then had a kick-in birdie while on the 18th hole in regulation. McDowell sank a 20-foot putt to birdie on the 18th and Woods, who was hosting the event, knocked in a three-footer to send the game into a playoff.
McDowell, the current U.S. Open champ, knocked in his birdie putt on the playoff hole while Woods missed and McDowell was the winner. After the game McDowell said it’s been a fantastic year and it was like a dream playing alongside Woods and beating him. The loss cemented the n2010 season as being one of Woods worse as he didn’t win anything, officially or unofficially.
Woods said he fought hard, but had trouble early on in the round and then lost his swing. He said he then started to get it back and it was a good, close battle.
The 31-year-old McDowell from Northern Ireland was tied with Woods heading into the last hole at 15 under par. Woods was just three feet away on the hole while McDowell was 20 feet short of the hole, but he handled the pressure well and sank his shot. Woods didn’t have a problem matching him and that led to the first playoff round in the history of the tournament, which took place in Thousand Oaks, California.
McDowell started the round well as he birdied three of four holes after the second to reach 15-under par for the tournament. He then hit for par seven straight holes before picking up three shots on Woods on the 13th hole. Woods hit for par on seven straight holes as well, from the sixth on. However, early on he missed a couple of four-foot putts to miss par.
Third place went to Paul Casey as he finished with a three-under par 69 for the second straight round. He ended up with a 12-under-par tournament at 276. Rory McIlroy ended up in fourth place with an 11 under and Hunter Mahan placed fifth with his 10-under total of 278.