Tiger Woods shows off his command

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- When the sun shines, and the beer flows, and the spectators flock to the vistas that provide a panorama of the 16th and 17th holes at the TPC Sawgrass, there might not be a better view in golf.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">With apologies to Amen Corner, which has its own special place in the game's history at Augusta National, the closing holes here provide their own kind of drama when the tournament is on the line at The Players Championship.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So there was Tiger Woods, his ball safely on the front of the 17th green, listening to the crowd roar as Sergio Garcia birdied the 16th hole, stealing a peek across the water that separates the two greens, then hearing the crescendo of noise again as his weekend foil approached the 17th tee.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="mod-inline image image-right" style="background-color: white; border-left-color: rgb(194, 194, 194); border-left-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 0px 1px; color: #333333; float: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px;"><a class="enlarge" credit="Andy Lyons/Getty Images" href="http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2013/0512/pga_g_woods_600.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #999999; font-size: 10px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[+] Enlarge<img alt="Woods" border="0" height="200" src="http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2013/0512/pga_g_woods_300.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 4px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="300" /></a><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 300px;"><cite style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #ababab; display: block; font-size: 10px !important; margin: 0px 0px 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Andy Lyons/Getty Images</cite>Tiger Woods overcame his only real hiccup of the day -- a double-bogey at 14 -- to win The Players.</div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"We've seen amazing things happen there at 16 and 17," Woods said. "I was hoping I would be on the good side of it."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For the first time in more than 10 years, Woods played those holes on a Sunday with something at stake.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">He birdied the 16th by getting up and down from the front bunker. He two-putted from 45 feet at the 17th, coaxing a putt that broke some 15 feet, up near the hole. And then he striped a 3-wood off the 18th tee to set up the par that clinched the tournament.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It was his first win here since 2001, his fourth victory this year and seventh in his past 21 stroke-play starts on the PGA Tour.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Behind him, Garcia knocked two balls in the water at the 17th. Jeff Maggert, 49, who had posted only one top-three finish in the past seven years, rinsed one there in front of Woods.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Rookie David Lingmerth gamely knocked his approach to eight feet, only to miss the putt that would have tied -- then bogeyed the last when he needed a birdie. Kevin Streelman, who tied for second with Maggert and Lingmerth, birdied the 16th and 17th, but he had begun the day five strokes back.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In the end, when he needed the shots the most, Woods executed them, shooting a final-round 70 when only one other player among the top 15 starting the final round managed to break par.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Save for a 14th-hole blip that allowed a slew of people back into the tournament, Woods was on his game, looking as good as he has from tee to green since he started winning tournaments again 14 months ago.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"I hit it high, low, left-to-right, right-to-left, whatever I wanted,'' Woods said. "Except for that tee shot at 14, I didn't really miss a whole lot of shots. I pured a lot of putts, too. Could have been something pretty low today.''</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For Woods, the key is always being able to work the ball in different directions. That is when he feels the best about his swing, and in truth, he has not had the ability in recent years.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Casey Wittenberg, who played the final round with Woods, also was alongside earlier this year at Torrey Pines. He also was paired with Woods last summer at the U.S. Open, where Woods shared the 36-hole lead but blew up on the weekend, falling to a tie for 21st. There, Wittenberg said, Woods was unable to hit a draw, a shot he played to perfection Sunday off the tee on the 18th hole.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"His game has definitely progressed," Wittenberg said. "It's getting better and better each time I see it. I thought he played fairly well at Torrey, especially with his iron game. I know this golf course doesn't really stress him out as far as having to make him hit drivers. But all in all, he was pretty zipped up and had very good control over the golf ball and made a few putts."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><blockquote class="mod-quote-box quote-box-left mod-inline" style="background-color: white; border-right-color: rgb(194, 194, 194); border-right-style: solid; border-width: 0px 1px 0px 0px; float: left; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 0px; quotes: none; vertical-align: baseline; width: 261.8833312988281px;"><span class="quote-start" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #aaaaaa; float: left; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 60px; font-weight: bold; height: 20px; line-height: 40px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 8px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"</span><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 7px 10px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Woods" class="floatright" height="90" src="http://assets.espn.go.com/i/headshots/golf/players/65/462.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; float: right !important; margin: 0px 0px 4px 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="65" />We've seen amazing things happen there at 16 and 17. I was hoping I would be on the good side of it.</div><span class="quote-end" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #aaaaaa; float: right; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 60px; font-weight: bold; height: 20px; line-height: 40px; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"</span><cite style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; clear: right; color: #333333; display: block; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 10px 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">-- Tiger Woods</cite></blockquote><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Unlike at Doral and Bay Hill, where he was as good as he has been in years on the greens -- taking just 100 putts at Doral, then having the best strokes-gained-putting week of his career at Bay Hill -- Woods took 114 putts here this week, twice needing 30 or more during a round.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">That is a testament to his ball striking that he was able to win without holing a lot of putts. He hit 77 percent of the greens at a place that has traditionally given him fits. Woods has had a single top-10 finish here since winning 12 years ago, and never contended on the back nine.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"You have to be on top of your game and hit all the shots," said Joe LaCava, Woods' caddie, who also won here with Fred Couples in 1996. "There was no fear at all. He was hitting the exact shots that were called for. He's driving it better, his iron game is more precise. He's working it both ways. He's putting well, but honestly he didn't make a lot of putts this week. He missed some putts or it wouldn't have been close."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It got close because Woods inexplicably hit a poor tee shot at the par-4 14th, a hole that has rarely been kind to him over the years. The water on the left typically has him pushing his drive to the right, but Woods hit a sky-hook into the hazard.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">That led to a drop and a 255-yard third shot, followed by a chip and two putts -- double-bogey 6 and a four-way tie for the lead.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Woods then had some more trouble when he missed the 15th green pin high, but on the short side. He chipped to eight feet and made the par-saving putt.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"I thought the tournament was at 15," he said. "To go double-bogey, bogey would have been huge. But to save a putt there and get some momentum going to the next three holes was big."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Much had been made of Woods' lack of success here over the years. For whatever reason, Pete Dye's course has never suited him. Back in 2001, he won everywhere and was in the midst of the Tiger Slam -- four straight major titles -- when he won The Players. Of late, he had been winning only at venues where he performed well in the past, including this year's wins at the Farmers Insurance Open, the WGC-Cadillac Championship and the Arnold Palmer Invitational.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A win at Sawgrass ought to answer some of those questions. "He's too good not to play well here," LaCava said. "He should be in contention a lot more here."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Said Brandt Snedeker, who played with Woods during the first two rounds: "From what I saw, he was flushing it, and was in control of every part of his game. He's playing incredible golf right now. As players, we can tell when a guy is flushing it all the time. He has an innate ability to flush it all the time."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The victory was the 78th of his PGA Tour career and came in his 300th start. As if sensing milestones, Woods also won his 100th start and his 200th start.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Woods has never won four tournaments on the PGA Tour this early in the year and the only time he had done so by June was when he captured the Memorial in both 2000 and 2001. Of course, in each of those years, he won major championships, which will undoubtedly be the focus with the U.S. Open looming next month.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">More important to Woods, he seems in command, in control. The rules controversy at the Masters overshadowed the fact that he was in the mix, despite a two-shot penalty that resulted in a triple-bogey. He has now won three of his past four starts, with the miss Masters mixed in.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Here, he overcame a double-bogey, as well as that pressure-packed scene at the 16th and 17th holes, where the tournament swung in his favor.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"That's what this place is about," Wittenberg said. "You can love it or hate that last stretch, but I think the best thing you can do is kind of embrace it."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Woods did just that, taking it on and seemingly enjoying every moment.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div></div>

Tiger Woods Tiger Woods shows off his command

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