Woods Wins His Tournament With a Late Birdie

Even after 68 victories, Tiger Woods never had a finish quite like Sunday at the AT&T National.

Tiger Woods watches his birdie putt roll into the hole on the 10th hole during the final round of the AT&T National golf tournament at Congressional Country Club, Sunday, July 5, 2009, in Bethesda, Md. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

(AP)

It had nothing to do with the golf, which was all too familiar.

Challenged by Hunter Mahan's record-tying 62 at Congressional, Woods plotted his way along the back nine and delivered the decisive birdie with a 20-foot putt on the 16th green, closing with a 3-under 67 for a one-shot victory.

The trophy presentation was unlike any other.

"I've always wanted to do this, so bear with me," Woods said, cradling the silver trophy in the shape of the Capitol. Then, the tournament host interviewed the tournament champion.

In this case, it was the same guy.

"So Tiger, how did you play today?" Woods said in a mock Q&A as thousands of fans broke into laughter.

This is what Woods meant earlier in the week by wanting to be a "greedy host" at Congressional.

It was his tournament, and his show.

With three birdies in a five-hole stretch, Woods surged past Anthony Kim in a high-charged final pairing. Then came a 62 from Mahan, tying the course record at Congressional that Kim had set Thursday. With some 40,000 fans waiting to see how the final hour would unfold, Woods rolled in a 20-foot birdie and walked stoically to the cup, nodding his head.

He closed with routine pars to finish at 13-under 267 for his third victory this year, along with some uncanny coincidences.

—Woods won in his second try at the tournament he hosts, just as Jack Nicklaus won his Memorial in the second year.

—He now has won all three PGA Tour events hosted by players in one year. Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March with a birdie on the final hole, getting another hearty handshake from the King. And he won the Memorial with a final-round 65, with Nicklaus standing behind the green to congratulate him.

"It was great shaking my hand today," Woods said.