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A little Disney magic Woods shakes off rust, rebounds to clinch stellar season
Posted: Thursday February 10, 2000 03:37 PM By Gene Menez, Sports Illustrated
Woods showed very little rust at the National Car Rental Classic, capturing his second consecutive Tour victory with a one-stroke win over Ernie Els at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando. Woods didn't have his A game in Sunday's final round, shooting a one-over 73, but it didn't matter. He finished with four straight pars, including a difficult two-putt on the final green, to edge the South African. ''I think by winning here this week goes to show you that all the hard work I've done is starting to come together now,'' Woods said. ''It makes you feel that you're on the right track.'' If he is on the right track now, exactly what path had he been taking before? Woods entered the week with five victories on Tour this season, including the win at PGA Championship in August, more than $4.2 million in earnings and a firm grip on PGA Player of the Year honors. In Orlando, Woods also had a chance to clinch a season for the ages. The Disney victory would give Woods six wins in 1999, a feat that had not been accomplished since Tom Watson won TK in 1980. ''Nobody can touch this guy right now,'' Els said. ''He has gone to another level where I don't think the rest of us can really find right now. It is hard to explain.'' Despite playing his first tournament since winning the NEC Invitational in August, Woods got off to a hot start at Disney. He shot six-under par 66 in each of the first three rounds and shared the lead with Bob Tway entering Sunday. Superb shotmaking carried Woods through the first three rounds, but what won the tournament for him on the final day was his ability to stay away from making the poor shots that everyone else seemed to. Tway shot 76 to fall out of contention. Els was Woods's closest rival, starting three shots behind and eventually pulling even with a birdie on No. 13. That's when Els started to unravel. On No. 14 he hooked his second shot into the water (''My worst shot of the year,'' Els said.) and made bogey to drop one shot back. On No. 17 Els again shared the lead with Woods, but he putted his birdie attempt off the slippery green and suffered another bogey to fall out of the lead for good. ''I had it going for a while, and I let it slip,'' Els said. ''You can't do that
against Tiger
Woods.''
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