Tiger Woods eased to a seven-shot victory at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday, earning his 79th win on the PGA Tour and sounding an ominous warning to his rivals ahead of next week’s PGA Championship.
Seven strokes ahead overnight, the world number one left an elite field trailing in his wake as he signed off with a level-par 70 at Firestone Country Club to land a record eighth title in the World Golf Championships event.
Woods played rock-steady golf on a warm, blustery afternoon at one his favourite venues, barely making a mistake on the way to a 15-under total of 265 for his fifth PGA Tour title this year in only 11 starts.
Fellow American Keegan Bradley, the defending champion, closed with a 67 to share second place at eight under with Swede Henrik Stenson (70).
“It was a really weird feeling because it was like a tournament within a tournament, I felt like,” said Bradley. “Coming in second is a big accomplishment considering Tiger had such a big lead.
“It’s very tough to give Tiger that many shots. The round he shot on Friday was pretty special. You know, I hate to sit here and go on and on about how good he is, but he is.”
With his eighth victory at Firestone, Woods equalled the mark he already shares with Sam Snead for most wins at a single PGA Tour event.
It also leaves him just three shy of matching the World Golf Hall of Fame member’s record of 82 career PGA Tour victories.
The tournament was effectively over after Woods distanced himself from his rivals with a stunning nine-under-61 on Friday and virtually every spectator at Firestone on Sunday had eyes firmly focused on the world number one.