Woods Wins in Japan’s Dunlop Phoenix
Posted November 21st, 2004 by Erik J. Barzeski
Tiger Woods entered the last round of the Dunlop Phoenix ten strokes ahead. To say he was going to win was a foregone conclusion is an understatement of Woods-ian proportions.
He hasn't won since February. He's slumping, he's hurting, he's got a DVD, and he's… got a ball and chain. Tiger Woods folks, the former World Number One, has won a tournament! Granted, it was against a no-name field in Japan, but he won by eight.
Woods shot a final-round 67 (3-under) to win the Dunlop Phoenix by eight, his first win since the Accenture Match Play Championship in February and his first ever win in Japan. Woods, finishing at 16-under 264, beat second-place finisher Ryoken Kawagishi, who bravely fired a final-round 65. K.J. Choi also fired a 65 to finish at 6-under 274. Woods' last stroke-play victory was in October 2003.
"It's been a process," said Woods of his revamped swing. "The last three or four months have been great. Things are getting better and better and this week is the culmination of that." Woods "culmination" led to a $388,000 paycheck from the $1.89 million purse, the richest on the Japanese tour.
"It hasn't been that long since I won," said Woods. "It's not as though it's a decade. Going through all the changes I've made with my golf swing, it was just a matter of time. Things are starting to click. I put together two good rounds at the Tour Championship and was finally able to put together four good rounds here."
Now that Woods is comfortable with his swing - and he's markedly improved in the past three months, since the PGA Championship in Kohler, Wisconsin - he hopes to return to his "World Number One" form. "That's why I made the changes," Tiger growled (okay, not really, but how many times can we say "said" before you get bored?). "Hopefully I can keep refining things so that I will be able to put myself in contention at all four majors."
With this victory in Japan, Woods has now won in 10 different countries.
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Posted 21 Nov 2004 at 11:21pm #
Well, I certainly hope Tiger didn't mean what he said about winning in Japan being the culmination of his journey through his swing change. I would hope that the true culmination will come with a PGA Tour victory against a halfway decent field or even another major win. This is almost like Agassi going to a local tennis club and playing in their annual championship.
Posted 22 Nov 2004 at 9:09am #
Good for Tiger. He still should've been in Spain helping the Americans to keep Paul Casey from winning the WGC World Cup of Golf. But oh well, he obviously needed a jolt of confidence and I guess if it has to come from a weak field in Japan, so be it.
Posted 22 Nov 2004 at 10:21am #
For the past few years, Annika Sorenstam and Tiger Woods have been the face of men's and women's professional golf. While Annika has remained dominant this season, notching her eighth victory and wrapping up LPGA Player of the Year honors
Posted 05 Jan 2005 at 7:12pm #
A comparison of Tiger's 1998 and 2004 stats leads to some interesting conclusions.
Posted 20 Nov 2005 at 8:52am #
A hobbled Tiger Woods won his second straight Dunlop Phoenix Open in Japan, but in dramatic fashion as it took him four playoff holes.