Thursday, November 22, 2001

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tiger Woods got a hug from a 6-year-old Alexa
Thompson after she presented him with a lei for
winning the Grand Slam.

Fourth in a row
for Tiger on Kauai

Woods pulls away to take the
Grand Slam of Golf by 3 strokes

---

By Kalani Simpson
ksimpson@starbulletin.com

POIPU, Kauai >> There would be no fist. No "Yes!" No Nike commercial pump-pump-pump. The crowd had waited, waited two days for this, to see the fist, to see the Tiger trademark. But the match just wasn't close enough for such emotion. Only a tap to the cup and a tip of the cap. End of story. Roll credits.

It had already been decided by the final hole. It was smooth and easy and over. Ho-hum, another win. The fist would wait for another, more dramatic day.

Tiger Woods triumphed again yesterday at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf. Of course. It was the fourth straight Grand Slam of Golf crown for Woods, who won in 1998, 1999 and 2000, and this time it happened with an event-record 12-under par, breaking Ernie Els' 1997 36-hole mark of 11-under.

Woods birdied 17 to set up a potential tie of the record, then broke it with another birdie on the final hole of the tournament. Woods becomes the first four-time champion of the event.

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tiger Woods won the Grand Slam of Golf on
Kauai with a game plan that emphasized keeping
his drives in the fairway.

One by one, they fell by the wayside for Tiger. David Duval, who opened with a bogey on the first hole of the first day, was never in it. Woods snatched the lead from Retief Goosen early yesterday, but Goosen and David Toms remained, at least mathematically, in the hunt.

"The tournament wasn't over yet," Woods said.

That changed on 16, where Goosen found the sand on his second shot and Toms followed, bonking Goosen's ball. Both entered the hole two behind the leader at 8-under and time running out. Both bogeyed, leaving 16 with little hope for a comeback.

On 17, Woods missed an ace by inches, settling for birdie, and "over" was an understatement. It was on to the trophy, on to the record. On to $400,000 of the $1 million purse.

Entering the day a shot behind Goosen, Woods seized the lead on the front nine, highlighted by a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 4. The front-nine scorecard was drenched in red, his numbers surrounded by circles. Woods was 4-under on the front He was on a roll and ahead for good.

"(Tuesday), I just kind of slopped it around and hung in there," Woods said. "But today I hit some good shots and made some putts and really could have shot ... zero."

He was cruising, striking the ball. His pursuers couldn't catch him. They just didn't have the game to pull it off.

"I played terrible off the tee," said Goosen, who hit three fairways for the day, bogeyed four times on the back nine, lost the lead and settled for third place at 7-under.

"I just couldn't make the putts to put any pressure on Tiger, especially the last six or seven holes," said Toms, who finished second at 9-under. A good score, a respectable score. But still in Tiger's taillights.

"Everything has to go right (when you're playing Tiger)."

Duval just wasn't clicking for the second day in a row. "My golf was extremely mediocre once again," he said.

Fear not. When there's no pressure on Tiger, he puts it on himself.

Tiger Woods talks to the ball. That's not surprising for golfers, for normal golfers. But for the great Woods, you'd think he wouldn't bother, wouldn't need to. Or if he did address the ball, it would be via high commandment. But no. He begs the ball, just like you do. He bargains with it.

Only for him, it works.

"I felt like I hit the ball well all day," Woods said. "I hit it solid all day."

End of story. When that happens, there's nothing anyone can do.

PGA Grand Slam of Golf At Poipu, Kauai Final scores Tiger Woods 67-65 -- 132 David Toms 68-67 -- 135 Retief Goosen 66-71 -- 137 David Duval 76-72 -- 148