MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – Tiger Woods celebrated his first visit Down Under in 11 years with a win at the Australian Masters yesterday, the world number one banishing his swing demons in time to hold off a dogged local field by two strokes.
Woods, joint leader overnight with Australia’s James Nitties and Greg Chalmers, carded a four-under 68 to finish with a 14-under total of 274 in bright sunshine at Kingston Heath Golf Club.
Chalmers finished second on 276, with American Jason Dufner and France’s Francois Delamontagne two shots further back at the A$1.5 million ($1.4 million) co-sanctioned tournament.
“It was a great day today,” Woods, wearing the tournament’s ‘gold jacket’, told reporters after a five-birdie one-bogey round that was followed by a large share of the 25,000 spectators at Kingston Heath.
“Now I’ve won on every continent which is nice, except for Antarctica … To have won on every playable continent is something I’ve always wanted to do, and now I’ve done that.”
After wayward driving and putting saw Woods cast a dejected figure on Saturday, the 14-times major champion quickly found his groove during the final round with a birdie on the par-five first after splitting the fairway with his drive.
A pair of sublime iron shots on the fifth and sixth holes — the first landing within three feet of the pin, the next two feet closer — put Woods two strokes clear of the field.