Tiger Woods grabbed his 76th PGA Tour in a wire-to-wire tour do force that saw the currently second-ranked golfer overpower the golf course at Doral as he blew away the field at the WGC-Cadillac Championship.
Tiger Woods: Master of his domain at 2013 WGC-Cadillac Championship
Tiger Woods won his second victory of the PGA Tour season with a total of 100 putts -- and those are just a few of the eye-popping numbers the world No. 2 put up on his way to a dominating performance at Doral.
Scott Halleran
As Woods stalks confidently toward Sam Snead in the all-time wins column, prepares to defend his title at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and sets his sights on winning his first major championship in five years at the Masters in April, the numbers tell the tale of a golfer in command of his game and, well, everyone else’s in the field.
- 100 -- Total number of putts Woods needed for the week and the fewest he’s ever required in 72 holes (“I played well this week and thank you to Steve [Stricker] for the putting lesson,” Woods said after shooting a final-round 1-under 71 on Sunday)
- 27 -- Total number of birdies, one short of Woods’ career-best 28 for 72 holes at the 2007 Tour Championship and 2006 Buick Open
- 1.38 -- Putts per hole
- 1.969 -- Woods’ strokes gained-putting stat for the week that ranked him second behind -- who else? -- Stricker (2.076), who finished two shots behind Woods in second place at Doral
- 7 -- Wins in 13 career starts at the Cadillac Championship
- 5 -- Number of wins Woods has in his last 19 tour starts
- 6 -- How many tour wins Woods needs to catch Snead’s all-time record of 82
- 2 -- Number of victories Woods has in four tour starts in 2013
- 37 -- How old Jack Nicklaus was when he had won 14 majors in 60 starts as a pro (ditto Tiger)
- 45 -- Number of minutes Stricker spent tutoring Woods on the practice green at Doral on Thursday
- “At least 2” -- The number of shots Woods said Stricker saved him at Doral
- 40-2 -- Tiger’s record on tour when holding the outright lead after 54 holes
Some other statistics are compelling as well. With 17 victories in 41 WGC starts, Woods owns a winning percentage of more than 40 percent, and has 32 top-10 finishes.
“I think that’s pretty good,” Woods said. “I’ve done well in big championships.”
Since turning pro in 1996, Woods has won at least two tour contests in a season 14 times. He also has seven wins in four tour competitions: the Farmers Insurance Open, Cadillac Championship, Arnie’s tourney, and the Memorial.
And though Rory McIlroy appeared to return to form at Doral after a miserable start to his 2013 season, Tiger’s young rival may be hearing footsteps, given the final telling statistic from Woods’ complete-game shutout last week:
1 -- The world ranking Tiger would reclaim -- for the first time since Oct. 30, 2010 -- with a win at Bay Hill
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