Tiger Woods got off to one of the best starts in his career earlier this week at Doral and he continued his strong play on Sunday as he won the WGC-Cadillac Championship for the 76th PGA Tour win in his career.
According to ESPN.com, Woods shot a 1-under 71 on the final day of the tournament to win his 17th career World Gold Championship victory and kept a number of players at bay, including Phil Mickelson and partner Graeme McDowell. The finish for Woods was different from last season, when he was forced to pull out of the tournament with 11 holes to go after suffering an injury.
Woods has momentum heading into the next part of the schedule, which includes the Masters in April. The win gives Woods his second victory of the season after the Farmers Insurance Open and after winning five times in the last year, he has a chance to retake the number one spot in the world since Rory McIlroy is struggling.
Woods finished the tournament with a two-shot lead over Steve Stricker, who helped Woods earlier in the week with putting, which he was able to use all throughout the tournament to convert a near-record amount of birdies. He made 27 birdies during his play at the tournament, which is just one off of his career high.
"Thank you to Steve for the putting lesson," Woods said at the trophy presentation. "It was one of those weeks where I felt pretty good about how I was playing, made a few putts and got it rolling."
The Masters is still a bit in the future, but it could be the best chance for Woods to win a major after going the past few years without one. After winning at Torrey Pines earlier in the year, he added his fourth career victory at Doral, which is set to get a large renovation from owner Donald Trump very soon.
"Majors and World Golf Championships are the best because you know you are playing against the best players," Woods said. "That's what makes wins like this special. That's why I love to compete."
McIlroy had a better day on Sunday after having struggles all throughout the season, finishing eighth overall after putting up a 65. It was a better performance than last week when he walked off the Honda Classic course after playing eight holes on Friday.
"Just goes to show, it's not as far away as you think," McIlroy said. "That's been one of my problems. I always think when I'm playing bad that it's further away than it is. That's just where I have to stay patient ... and know that if I put in the hard work, that the results will bear fruit. Whether that's sooner or later, it doesn't really matter."
Woods finished ahead of a number of big names, including McDowell as well as Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott, who all finished tied for third place. Woods continued his dominance when he is in the outright lead heading into the final round, improving his career record to 41-2 when in that position.
"The way Tiger was playing, I was always in chase mode," McDowell said. "He was always going to be a tough guy to catch. Fair play to him. He played fantastic golf the last couple of days."
Woods took home $1.5 million for winning the tournament and kept himself far enough ahead of the pack that he was able to overcome a few mistakes while saving pars at the end of the round. Woods was in the lead to start the day and his win wasn't too much in question, although Stricker made a late push.
Tiger Woods has not been able to win a Masters since taking a green jacket in 2005 and after playing so well at Doral, there is no doubt he will be the favorite in April. It also gives Woods his best chance to take the number one spot from Rory McIlroy for the first time in a while, as the current No. 1 golfer will not be playing for two weeks until the Houston Open, which will be his last before the Masters.
Woods has been dominant on the WGC since the series started in 1999 and has now won nearly $25 million in tournament prizes.