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| July 5, 2005 | Tuesday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 27, 1426 |
Furyk holds off Woods to end 2-year drought
LEMONT (Illinois), July 4: Jim Furyk avoided another late collapse to end a two-year title drought with a victory at the Western Open on Sunday. He finished two shots clear of Tiger Woods who became the first golfer to break $50 million in career earnings. Last week Furyk held a three-shot lead with five holes to play at the Barclays Classic but watched it agonisingly disappear when he was overhauled by Padraig Harrington.
This time he held his nerve at the Cog Hill Country Club to return a final round two-under 69 and collect his 10th career win and first since the 2003 Buick Open with 14-under 270.
The early bogeys gave him a sense of deja vu but the 2003 US Open champion recovered to play flawless golf, including three consecutive birdies at the turn, until a final bogey at the 17th.
Instead, it was world number one Woods, chasing a fourth Western Open title, who suffered an uncharacteristic collapse going one-over on his final seven holes to finish with a five-under 66.
During the charge from the opening tee, Woods mixed five birdies with a bogey over his first 10 holes then upped the ante by draining a snaking 50-foot eagle putt on the 11th to join Furyk atop the leaderboard.
But Woods’s rally fizzled out with back-to-back bogeys on 13 and 14 to fall four shots off the pace.
It was the second consecutive runner-up finish for Woods, who was behind New Zealand’s Michael Campbell at the US Open.
The result, however, was enough to allow the Masters champion to become the first player to reach the $50 million mark, achieved over a 10-year career so far.
Ben Curtis, the 2003 British Open champion, fired a final round three-over 74 to take third place on nine-under 275.
It was less than a sparkling finish but a welcome result nonetheless for Curtis, who had been mired in a terrible slump having missed the cut in 12 of his previous 14 events.
Leading final round scores (US unless stated):
270 — Jim Furyk 64, 70, 67, 69.
272 — Tiger Woods 73, 66, 67, 66.
275 — Ben Curtis 64, 71, 66, 74.
276 — Billy Mayfair 72, 69, 67, 68.
277 — Pat Perez 74, 66, 67, 70; Brett Quigley 69, 69, 69, 70.
278 — Charles Warren 71, 69, 70, 68; Heath Slocum 72, 70, 67, 69; Shaun Micheel 71, 67, 68, 72.
279 — Fredrik Jacobson (Sweden) 73, 68, 70, 68; Bob Tway 74, 68, 68, 69; Tim Herron 68, 66, 70, 75.
280 — Craig Perks (New Zealand) 67, 71, 70, 72; Chris Couch 66, 67, 74, 73; Vijay Singh (Fiji) 72, 70, 65, 73.
281 — Robert Allenby (Australia) 66, 75, 72, 68; Todd Fischer 64, 72, 75, 70; Marco Dawson 73, 68, 70, 70; D.J. Trahan 71, 69, 69, 72; Mark Hensby (Australia) 75, 65, 69, 72.
FERRIE UPSTAGES BJORN
STRAFFAN Ireland: A calamitous finish by overnight leader Thomas Bjorn, including an 11 on the 17th hole, allowed Briton Kenneth Ferrie to come from seven strokes behind
to win the European Open by two shots on Sunday.
The 26-year-old Englishman carded a two-under-par 70 to clinch his second European Tour title, finishing on three-under 285 at the K Club’s Palmer Course.
Seven-time European number one Colin Montgomerie tied for second at one under with fellow Briton Graeme Storm after closing with a 69. Storm returned a 73.
Leading final round scores (Britain unless stated):
285 — Kenneth Ferrie 75, 70, 70, 70.
287 — Colin Montgomerie 73, 75, 70, 69; Graeme Storm 69, 71, 74, 73.
288 — Darren Clarke 69, 71, 75, 73; Peter Hanson (Sweden) 74, 72, 69, 73.
289 — Andrew Coltart 75, 68, 71, 75; Brian Davis 70, 73, 75, 71; Trevor Immelman (South Africa) 66, 76, 74, 73; Jose Manuel Lara (Spain) 70, 76, 70, 73; Damien McGrane (Ireland) 70, 71, 74, 74; Gary Murphy (Ireland) 68, 76, 73, 72; Jamie Spence 76, 67, 73, 73.
290 — Nick Dougherty 74, 70, 79, 67; Retief Goosen (South Africa) 67, 74, 77, 72; Richard Green (Australia) 72, 73, 70, 75; Graeme McDowell 72, 75, 70, 73; Nick O’Hern (Australia) 69, 74, 72, 75; Lee Westwood 73, 74, 72, 71.
291 — Gregory Bourdy (France) 73, 73, 74, 71; Jamie Donaldson 69, 70, 82, 70; Peter Hedblom (Sweden) 73, 70, 75, 73; Raphael Jacquelin (France) 72, 70, 70, 79; Jonathan Lomas 68, 72, 72, 79; Brett Rumford (Australia) 69, 71, 75, 76.
292 — Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 74, 72, 71, 75; Niclas Fasth (Sweden) 70, 74, 72, 76; Soren Hansen (Denmark) 75, 73, 75, 69; Anthony Wall 73, 72, 76, 71; Steve Webster 73, 73, 72, 74.
293 — Maarten Lafeber (Netherlands) 71, 76, 75, 71; Santiago Luna (Spain) 72, 73, 75, 73; Greg Owen 72, 72, 76, 73.
294 — Philip Archer 74, 72, 71, 77; Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 70, 69, 69, 86; Peter Fowler (Australia) 74, 72, 76, 72; Fredrik Henge (Sweden) 75, 72, 78, 69; Marten Olander (Sweden) 73, 71, 75, 75; Wade Ormsby (Australia) 74, 70, 74, 76.—Reuters
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