Tiger Woods clinched victory in the US Open by three shots and became the first player since Jack Nicklaus to win the first two majors in one year. Woods began the day four strokes clear of the field and bounced back from a faltering start and could afford to bogey the last as he finished at three-under-par.
The American recovered from three-putt bogeys at his first two holes with birdies at the seventh and 13th to hold off the challenge of Phil Mickelson and secure the eighth major title of his career. Woods is now halfway towards golf's first-ever Grand Slam of all four majors in one season and collected a first prize of one million dollars.
Behind Mickelson in second came Sergio Garcia and Jeff Maggert in joint third on two over, and then there was a further three-stroke gap to Nick Faldo, whose joint fifth spot represented his best finish in a major for six years. Ireland's Padraig Harrington finished in joint eighth position, a double bogey six at the final hole itself costing him three places and over $73,000 dollars.
"I will take positives from the week, but I don't really see them at the moment. I'm sure when I'm home I'll think about it and there will be some good things learned," said the Dubliner. Harrington watched the World Cup game with Spain before teeing off and said it was an unfortunate result for Ireland.
But Woods will certainly not be daunted by the opportunity of a real Grand Slam. The fact that his US Open, The Open and US PGA hat-trick two years ago and the Masters last year spread across two seasons was generally agreed to be a Tiger Slam and not a real Grand Slam.
"I've done it before and I'd like to do it again. I'm going to celebrate this win first, though. It was an awfully tough week," said Woods seconds after his victory. "This will be a different type of Slam, it being the calendar year. The build up to the British Open will certainly be a lot easier than what I had to deal with going up to Augusta, dealing with seven months of every tournament I got that question, what's it like to go for four in a row," added Woods.
US Open Final Standings:
T Woods - 3
P Mickelson Level
J Maggert + 2
S Garcia + 3
S Hoch + 5
N Faldo + 5
Filed by James Shortt
