Yes his infidelities have upset many as have his spitting and his cursing on the golf course but one look at the hoard of fans who today cheered him on to his first full field PGA Tour in 30 months suggests that many recognise that in order for the game to flourish then Tiger Woods needs to be a factor.

Not that he wasn’t a factor even when he wasn’t winning but, with The Masters fast approaching, the prospect of Woods close to his best attempting to win his 15th major nearly four years after his 14th is a juicy prospect.

On a day where only two players would break 70 in the windy conditions, Woods capitalised on his 54 hole lead, extending his control of the tournament to win by five over Graeme McDowell and take this event for an unbelievable 7th occasion and secure his 72nd PGA Tour title.

The battle on the final day realistically involved only Woods and McDowell and although the margin was reduced to two at various stages Woods was never in serious jeopardy of losing control of an event that has become his own.

McDowell gave his Master’s chances some hope with a very good tournament, recovering from a double bogey at the first to keep himself in the hunt until Woods took control and he faltered over the closing stages. McDowell has played The Masters only twice, his 17th place finish last year his best.

It was hard for Woods to contain his joy. “It was just pure joy. You know, it was tough today. It was tough conditions out there, man. Wind was whipping out there. It was changing directions and intensities.

“Arnold did a hell of a job of getting these greens fast, and they were baked out and some of the hardest pins I’ve ever seen here. So I don’t know what the average score was today, but certainly wasn’t anywhere near par. It was a tough day. It was a very tough day.

“I still need some work (ahead of Augusta), and it’s going to be good to get a week off and work on a few things. I enjoyed the progression we made this week. Each day there was a little bit of fine tuning here and there, and we were able to make those adjustments, which was good, and especially with the conditions getting more difficult on the weekend.

“I was able to hit some really good shots the last two days, and that’s a very good sign going into Augusta.

Ian Poulter did not have a great day but it was good enough to finish alone in 3rd position as those around him fell.

Seven players tied for 4th including Ernie Els who had his chances this week to play his way into the Masters field with a top three finish but it was not to be.

Els now has only next week’s Shell Houston open to play his way into the top 50 in the world ranking. He was 62nd heading into this past week and will improve a place or two on that.

The leading Australian this week was Rod Pampling who was 36th, while Robert Allenby and Marc Leishman were 48th.

Courtesy: Bruce Young & iSeekgolf

Rory McIlroy has confirmed the number one standing in the game in the most emphatic way possible by holding off a strong last day charge by none other than Tiger Woods to win the Honda Classic and stand atop the game’s rankings.

McIlroy was put to the ultimate test as Woods produced a stunning final round of 62 including a birdie, eagle finish at the PGA National Champion Course in Palm Beach Gardens in Florida.

Just as Woods was finishing up his round with a 7 foot eagle putt at the par five final hole to get within one of McIlroy, the Northern Irishman stood over a six foot tricky downhiller for birdie at the 13th to stretch his lead back to two.

To his absolute credit McIlroy made it despite hearing the huge roar in the distance. His lead was two over Woods but he still had to consider the likes of Tom Gillis and Justin Rose who were still within striking distance. He had them to worry about and also the incredibly demanding Bear Trap over the closing stages of his round.

The Bear Trap comprises the par three 15th and 17th holes at PGA National’s Champion course and the par four 16th. All three provide a potential accident waiting to happen, a factor McIlory, who had played those three holes in his three previous appearances in an accumulative in a massive 16 over par, knew only too well.

McIlroy would play the closing five holes brilliantly however. After his birdie at the 13th he produced a magnificent up and down from right of the green at the 14th, escaped with par from the bunker at the 15th, found the green and two putted for par at the 16th and again save par from the left hand trap at the 17th.

The 22 year old was proving that any suggestion that the score Woods had posted would faze him was just that, a suggestion and not a reality.

“I think the way I won today, as well, was great, said McIlory. “I missed a few greens coming in. I was able to get up and down. I made a couple big par saves early as well which kept my momentum.

“It was just one of those days. There was a 62 and a 63 out there, which, I mean, is unbelievable playing. I just needed to focus on my game and do what I needed to do, and thankfully that’s what happened."

McIlroy stood on the last tee with a two shot lead over Woods and three shots over his playing partner Tom Gillis and when his lengthy drive split the fairway. It was all but over. He played the hole in a conservative but smart fashion and maybe now the stupidity of earlier comments about his caddy’s street smarts in the heat of the battle will be a thing of the past.

McIlroy two putted for par and took the mantle of the game’s leading player. He is a deserved number one as along with the emphatic victory at Congressional last year there has been an amazing run of consistency to go with that brilliance.

Woods announced to the world when he gets it all together he can contend and win again. He might not dominate the game again in the manner he did during the 2000’s but the last nine holes today reminded us all of the Sunday charges he has produced in the past and the looming battle between he and Rory McIlory amongst others over the next few weeks up to and including Augusta National is mouth watering.

“Yeah, this was a good day, said Woods. “I hit it well. I really didn’t miss many shots today. It was a good day, and I hit a lot of good putts that went in, also some that just skirted the edge. It could have really been something special today if a few putts would have gone in.

“It feels good, because, you know, I felt like I was close; I’ve been close to shooting this score, or scores like this. And it was just a matter of time before things all fell into place, and I don’t know, maybe I just needed the wind to blow or something like that today to feel comfortable with it. But I felt very comfortable when the wind was howling out there, because of my performance in Australia, and it just felt good today.”

Gillis holed a lengthy putt at the last for birdie to secure his biggest cheque in the game sharing second position with Woods and finishing two shots ahead of Lee Westwood whose final round of 63 was bettered only by Woods.

McIlroy was heading up to New York soon after his winner’s duties were done to see his girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki where they can compare notes on being number one in their respective sports of golf and tennis. Wozniacki was the number one player in the female game until recently.

McIlory will then head back down to Miami for this coming week’s WGC Cadillac Championship at Doral.

McIlroy was also looking ahead to the Masters. “I’m taking three weeks off before the Masters to prepare. I’ll go up to Augusta the week before and play a couple of practice rounds, and basically if I can do the exact same thing this year as I did last year for 63 holes, I’ll be doing okay. So hopefully I can do that again, and if I could get myself in that position, maybe finish it off a little better like I did today."

The leading Australian was Greg Chalmers who despite a horror run through the Bear Trap finished in a share of 12th.

There were some encouraging signs from Stuart Appleby when he finished 21st, his best PGA Tour finish since May of last year. Robert Allenby was 36th.

The PGA Tour needs in two different directions next week when the WGC Cadillac Championship at Doral takes feature billing while the Puerto Rico Open offers hope for others not quite so fortunate.

Courtesy: Bruce Young and iSeekgolf.com

Jessica Korda LPGA Austarlian Open Champion

In one of the most dramatic finishes to a professional tournament of either gender in Australian professional golf, a six way playoff was required to determine the winner of the 2012 ISPS Handa Australian Women’s Open at Royal Melbourne.

Americans Jessica Korda, Brittany Linicome and Stacy Lewis, along with Paraguay’s Julieta Granada and Koreans, So Yeon Ryu and Hee Kyung Seo all finished their 72 holes at 3 under par but it would take only two holes to identify the champion.

18 year old Korda would birdie the second extra hole to win her first LPGA Tour event and in doing so completed a remarkable family double having followed in the footsteps of her father Petr who in 1998 won the Australian Tennis Open.

It is a great story and her victory was not only popular for the family connection but for the manner in which she handled herself in the heat of the battle, bouncing back from a near disaster during the middle of her round to birdie the 17th to be part of the playoff.

Korda was on the phone to her family almost immediately after her round. “I got to speak to everybody except my brother who I think was sleeping. I was surprised that my sister was up. It was awesome. My Dad said he was so proud of me but that we’ll talk about the three-putts after.”

Korda becomes the 6th youngest winner of an LPGA Tour event and betters by some margin her previous best finish in an LPGA Tour event of 16th at the Avnet LPGA Classic last year. She will move a massive 250 positions on the revised Rolex World Rankings to around 30th.

On a day which began with Korda leading by one over Australian Nikki Campbell and Koreans Ryu and Seo. Korda, Ry and Seo each had chances to win the event outright but, one by one, they saw the leads they held at various stages of the round disappear, allowing three others to join them in extra time.

Lewis and Lincicome, both of whom have a Kraft Nabisco Championship on their playing resumés, and Granada, finished before the others and awaited their fate.

It appeared at the time as if their 72 holes totals of 3 under would not be good enough especially given the quality of the Koreans, who both stood at 4 under with two holes to play. Neither however was able to birdie the 17th and when both would almost inexplicably three putt the 18th, six players were tied on 3 under with Korda the only remaining chance on the golf course to alter the outcome.

Korda hit a fine shot to the 72nd hole but missed from 15 feet. Although she had not won at that point she can take some solace from the fact that she rallied back after struggling through the early stages of her back nine. That she would go on to complete the victory will make her even more comfortable in the situation when she next faces it which is sure to be in the not too distant future

Korda, only just into her second season on the LPGA Tour and playing only her 16th event at that level, appeared as if she might produce a dream result much earlier than she did when she birdied three of her first eight holes in the final round and at 7 under she led by two over Hee Kyung Seo.

Royal Melbourne, though, has a way of not letting anyone get too far ahead of themselves and, just when she appeared to be coasting, disaster struck. A wild drive at the 9th led to a double bogey and was followed by a bogey at the 10th. Korda staged a minor recovery when she birdied the 11th but bogeys at the 14th, 15th and 16th appeared at that stage to destroy any chance she may have had.

“I think I bogeyed three holes in a row,” she said when referring to that mid round stumble. "I thought, You’ve got to be kidding me. I was lipping out and not reading my putts correctly. But I thought, Come on, you can still get it back. I was talking to Damon and Simon (caddies) as I was walking off the tee on 17.

“Simon said, Come on, have a strong finish…I was walking down the fairway like an absolute goof. After I made the birdie I was okay, like, I can do this. I can birdie the last hole. I saw the girls making mistakes on the green. I saw the opportunity but unfortunately I did not read the putt correctly.”

It seemed a little earlier as if it might develop into a repeat of the 2011 playoff between the 2011 US Women’s Open playoff between So Yeon Ryu and Hee Kyung Seo but their bogeys at the last opened the door for four others to join them on a return visit to the 18th tee.

In the playoff Lincicome gave herself the best opportunity of the group at the first extra hole when she hit her approach after her predictably long drive to 8 feet but missed. Lewis was also in good position just 14 feet from the hole but she would miss and all six players headed back to the tee.

Second time around Ryu would take bogey and in the second group of three players it would be Jessica Korda who would end the agony for all when she holed a curling right to left putt from 25 feet for the title.

So what does winning mean to her? “A lot of the hard work I put in in the off season, all the times I was down last year, it is all worth it. It made me grow up. It made me realise that you’ve got to change your life to live out here and this is proof. I know that all the hard hours I put in and will keep putting in are really worth it. Every moment.”

Korda has been in Australia for four weeks now playing events in Canberra, Sydney and on the Gold Coast. “I was working really hard in the off season and taking a lot of money off my friends. I felt good. I got sick in Canberra. I finished my antibiotics two days ago.

“I was not doing well with my health. I was stuffy and coughing and really tired. Missing the cut on the Gold Coast was actually a blessing in disguise. It gave me time to rest. I had been playing well. It was time to take the rust off and get healthy.”

Not only is her health in good shape tonight but so too is her bank balance, the winner’s cheque $US165,000.

Pre tournament favourite Yani Tseng struggled with a stomach complaint and at one stage this morning there was some concern she not even make it to the first tee. She was attended by a doctor prior to her teeing off but her opening few holes suggested she was struggling.

A triple bogey at the 4th and a bogey at the 7th and she appeared to be a lost cause in terms of this event but four birdies in six holes in the middle of her round had her back on the edge of contention. She was unable to finish it off but had done well given the circumstances.

Sarah Kemp and Nikki Campbell would finish as the leading Australians in a share of 12th position, Campbell’s round of 77 proving very costly while for Kemp it is a good start to her LPGA Tour season.

Lydia Ko again starred as the leading amateur finishing in 19th position and ahead of a lot of high quality players.

The event was an undoubted success. Not only was the size of the playoff historic in Australian golfing terms but the manner in which this field of high quality LPGA Tour players and others negotiated their way around one of the world’s great layouts was a joy to witness.

The LPGA Tour now heads to Asia while for the Ladies European and Australian Ladies Professional Tours they travel across the Tasman to Christchurch for the New Zealand Open.

Courtesy: Bruce Young and iSeekgolf.com

With the event shortened to 54 holes as a result of the blustery winds that swept across the Doha Golf Club’s layout earlier in the week, today’s final round turned into a sprint to the finish line.

Lawrie was a one shot leader as the event headed into its third and final round and an early birdie extended his lead.

Two groups ahead however Day was on a roll. Birdies at his opening four holes allowed the 24 year old to close within one of the leader although bogeys at the 6th and 9th would see him make the turn three behind.

Then came another birdie rush for Day when he birdied the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th and he was again within one.

Lawrie though would have something of his won left in the tank. He eagled the 9th then birdied the 11th, 14th, 16th and 17th and had the luxury of a four shot lead playing the par five last. A par there was good enough to secure the four shot win and the €316,000 first prize.

“You get a little bit older and you kind of lose focus but I actually feel the opposite,” Lawrie said. “I feel I’m getting better. I feel my ball striking has improved immensely since I turned 40. So it’s great to win.”

Day and Hanson each earned €164,000 for their second place finishes, Hanson’s strong finish of four under in his last five holes making a huge difference to his payday.

Day bounced back from a missed cut in Abu Dhabi Golf Championship last week indicating that effort was but an aberration in what is a rapidly building career amongst the elite of the game.

“I played great golf coming in. I just didn’t putt that great,” Day said. “I saw the leaderboard on 16 and I knew I had to birdie the last few holes. I just kind of ran out of steam there for a little.”

Lawrie has suffered a penalty during his second round when he dropped a ball on his coin and even though there was no real evidence of the coin moving he was obliged to take a one shot penalty. He was philosophical about the penalty.

“Well, there’s so many of them, it’s impossible to get the rules perfect. There are so many rules, but it’s one of those, I’m not getting an advantage even if the coin moved. I’m not trying to drop the ball on the coin. I’m not trying to do it. It’s just an accident.

“It’s like Poulter in Dubai last year, same thing. It’s just one of those many rules that could do with changing a little bit. I can’t see a player purposely throwing a ball on a coin to knock it closer to the hole. But it happens. So not much you can do."

Five months after his victory in 1999 Lawrie would go on to win the Open Championship at Carnoustie.

Given the way he is playing at present, another great week at Royal Lytham & St Annes is not beyond him.

Courtesy: Bruce Young and iSeekGolf