Tiger Woods shrugged off three consecutive bogeys while cruising to an eight-shot victory at the Buick Invitational on Sunday for his 62nd PGA Tour title.
Eight ahead of the field overnight in his first tournament of the year, the world number one holed two monster birdie putts on his way to a one-under-par 71 in increasingly windy conditions on the South Course at Torrey Pines.
Woods piled up five birdies and four bogeys for a 19-under total of 269 to record a fourth successive triumph at the coastal venue and his sixth overall.
Japan’s Ryuji Imada birdied the last two holes for a 67 to finish a distant second at 11 under, two ahead of South Africa’s Rory Sabbatini (67) and American Stewart Cink (73).
“The whole idea today was to go out and shoot something under par and not make any bogeys, but I got half of that right,” Woods told reporters after winning his opening PGA Tour event of the season for the sixth time in 12 years.
“Even though I didn’t drive the ball particularly well this week, I still was able to do what I was able to do, which was nice.
“I think we are all pleased to get this thing in,” Woods added, as the rain and wind intensified at Torrey Pines.
His margin of victory shattered the previous tournament best of five set by fellow American Tom Watson in 1977 and equaled by Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.
