Greed is good for Woods

Tiger Woods hit a birdie putt on No. 16, and then parred his way to a one-stroke victory.

By DOUG FERGUSON, Associated Press

Last update: July 5, 2009 - 11:59 PM

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BETHESDA, MD. - Even after 68 victories, Tiger Woods never had a finish quite like the one Sunday at the AT&T National.

It had nothing to do with the golf, which was all too familiar.

Challenged by Hunter Mahan's record-tying 62 at Congressional, Woods plotted his way along the back nine and delivered the decisive birdie with a 20-foot putt on the 16th green, closing with a 3-under 67 for a one-shot victory. The trophy presentation was unlike any other.

"I've always wanted to do this, so bear with me," Woods said, cradling the silver trophy in the shape of the Capitol. Then, the tournament host interviewed the tournament champion. In this case, it was the same guy.

"So Tiger, how did you play today?" Woods said in a mock Q&A as thousands of fans broke into laughter.

This is what Woods meant by wanting to be a "greedy host" at Congressional.

With three birdies in a five-hole stretch, Woods surged past Anthony Kim in a high-charged final pairing. Then came a 62 from Mahan, tying the course record at Congressional that Kim had set Thursday. With some 40,000 fans waiting to see how the final hour would unfold, Woods rolled in a 20-foot birdie and walked stoically to the cup, nodding his head.

He closed with routine pars to finish at 13-under 267 for his third victory this year. "It was great shaking my hand today," he said.

Etc.

• South Korea's Eunjung Yi holed a 10-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff with Morgan Pressel to win the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic in Sylvania, Ohio.

• Germany's Martin Kaymer won the French Open in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, beating England's Lee Westwood with an 18-foot par putt on the first hole of a playoff.

3M CHAMIONSHIP THE ANNUAL PGA CHAMPIONS TOUR STOP COMES TO THE TWIN CITIES THIS WEEK. THE 17TH 3M CHAMPIONSHIP GETS UNDER WAY TODAY WITH THE FIRST OF FOUR PRO-AM DAYS BEFORE THE 54-HOLE, NO-CUT TOURNAMENT BEGINS FRIDAY MORNING.

Who to watch

Schwab Cup points leader Bernhard Langer comes to town as the first Champions Tour player to reach $1 million in earnings for the second year in a row. Langer skipped the Dick's Sporting Goods Open in favor of a brief trip to his native Munich, Germany, on June 22-25. There, he finished tied for ninth in the European Tour's BMW International Open after being in second place after the third round. Fred Funk returns to the Twin Cities seven years after he chased Rich Beem and Tiger Woods down the stretch at the 2002 PGA Championship at Hazeltine. This is Funk's first 3M Championship appearance. Nick Price, Mark O'Meara, Hal Sutton and Larry Mize are also making their 3M debuts.

THE COURSE

TPC Twin Cities -- the 19th course on the TPC Network -- is a 7,100-yard, par-72 design. It sits on a 550-acre former sod farm in Blaine and features 27 water hazards with various waste bunkers stretching up to 60 yards. More than 400 trees were added to fill in the existing tree lines. It was nominated by Golf Digest for "Best New Private Course" in 2000. It was ranked the seventh-hardest course in Minnesota by Twin Cities Business Journal, but last year it was the second-easiest course on the Champions Tour. In total, 106 sub-70 scores were posted. R.W. Eaks won with a record score of 23 under par. He tied a tournament record on Sunday with a 65.

BRIAN STENSAAS