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No taming Tiger

Woods defeats Singh to win Grand Slam of Golf

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Posted: Thursday July 08, 1999 06:43 PM

Tiger's tale: After being all square through 16 holes, Tiger Woods pulled away from Vijay Singh with birdies on the final two holes to win the title Jamie Squire/Allsport

POIPU, Hawaii (CNNSI.com) -- With the wind howling and squalls sweeping over the Poipu Bay Resort Course, Tiger Woods' patience prevailed Wednesday, giving him the PGA Grand Slam of Golf title in a 2-up victory over Vijay Singh.

Woods, who gained entry to the exclusive four-man event as an alternate, led only briefly, at the 15th hole, until the 17th when he rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt.

U.S. Open winner Lee Janzen, who lost to Woods on Tuesday, didn't take the lead until the 17th hole, but it was enough to earn a 1-up victory over Mark O'Meara.

In describing the round, Woods said, "It was a rough day. Conditions were awfully hard, very difficult, very demanding. You had to be very patient, execute the shots you had to execute and keep your patience.

"Today was one of those days if you lose your patience, you lose the match very quickly."

Singh still had an opportunity on the closing hole, a downwind 550-yard par 5, but his second shot bounced its way into the Pacific while Woods laid up.

"It was a pretty rough day," Singh said. "You had to try to pick the right club and with the wind that strong, it was hard to keep your balance."

Club selection was a nightmare, he said.

"I had trouble quite a few times," he said. "For 160 yards upwind, I hit a 3-iron. And then downwind, I used a pitching wedge from 180 yards. It didn't make sense. But, like Tiger said, you had to be patient."

"It was just a matter of hanging in there," Woods said. "I knew I was going to make mistakes; I knew Vijay was going to make some mistakes. It was just that conditions were so rough that it was going to happen. I just had to hang in there, hang in there and hopefully make have couple of putts down the stretch.

"I made a couple. Unfortunately, I missed the one at 16, but I made the one on 17."

The win was worth $400,000, while Singh, the PGA Championship winner, collected $250,000.

It also made Woods the second alternate to win the $1 million tournament. Greg Norman, thanks to a double victory by Nick Price, won the 1994 Grand Slam.

Singh led for most of the championship match and was ahead by two when Woods conceded the 12th hole.

Not Vijay's day: Singh, the PGA Championship winner, had three consecutive bogeys on the back nine to lose the match Jamie Squire/Allsport

But Singh, the PGA Championship winner, then had three consecutive bogeys. Woods birdied the 427-yard 15th to go 1-up.

Woods gave back the advantage on the next hole when he bogeyed, but took the lead on the par-3 17th with his birdie putt as Singh's 25-foot effort hung on the lip of the cup.

In the third-place match, O'Meara, who won the Masters and British Open, built a two-hole lead with seven holes to play. However, he went bogey-bogey over the next two holes to square the match and then lost it on the 17th.

The Grand Slam is limited to winners of the four majors.

O'Meara, 41, by becoming the oldest player to win two majors in one year, opened the way for Woods to join the quartet as the alternate.

Woods, the only returnee in the four-man field from last year, gained the extra spot by turning in the best performance by a player in this year's majors.

 

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