Tiger Woods gets 70th PGA Tour victory at WGC Bridgestone Invitational

There were all kinds of delicious implications had Padraig Harrington hung on to defeat Tiger Woods at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday, and the pundits were salivating.

As Woods sat out the second half of 2008, Harrington stole his mantle and won the British Open and PGA Championship. Not that the Irishman seemed to mind Woods's company. He had twice beaten the great one head-to-head, and even teamed with Colin Montgomerie to thump the U.S. "dream team" of Woods and Phil Mickelson at the 2004 Ryder Cup. With the 2009 PGA Championship just days away -- Harrington and Woods are scheduled to play together the first two rounds at Hazeltine -- it seemed as though golf had found the one man immune to the Tiger mystique.

Or not.

On the par-5 16th hole, Woods hit a jaw-dropping, 180-yard 8-iron to within a foot of the flag for a tap-in birdie. Harrington responded by making an equally unforgettable 8, and Woods coasted to a final-round 65 for his 70th Tour victory. Woods now ranks third on the all-time wins list, behind Jack Nicklaus (73) and Sam Snead (82). It was also his seventh triumph at Firestone Country Club's South Course. He won by four over Harrington (72) and Robert Allenby (66).

"I had a situation where the wind was in my favor, and I hit a good shot in," Woods said of his highlight-reel approach on 16, where he had pulled his tee shot into the trees and was forced to pitch out sideways. "It carried far enough. I was surprised it spun back that much considering it was downwind."

Harrington made a special mess of the hole, a result that Woods hung partly on longtime European Tour official John Paramor, who put the final twosome on the clock on the 16th tee. That appeared to throw the deliberate Harrington off his game.

"I don't think that Paddy would have hit the pitch shot [into the water] that way if he was able to take his time, look at it, analyze it," Woods said. "But he was on the clock, had to get up there quickly and hit it."

Harrington was not as blunt in apportioning blame, but admitted that he rushed on No. 16 and saw his problems compounded when his drive found the rough well right of the fairway.

"You know, if you're going to go for the green in two you've got to hit [the tee shot] right down the right-hand side," he said. "I wasn't unhappy to have missed the fairway right. It's not the end of the world. I rushed my second shot chipping it out and didn't hit a good shot and obviously left myself in trouble. I hit a pretty decent third shot. Again, I had an awkward fourth shot. I had to go after it and probably rushed that a bit, as well. That was the end of that."

Harrington led by three strokes entering the final round, but knew he would face a battle on Sunday.