Tiger Wood’s tournament delivers fantastic finish in Sherwood finale

THOUSAND OAKS — There was a Hollywood ending to the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge, but the leading man wasn't the last man standing.

Still, it was a thriller you couldn’t stop watching on Sunday.

Sherwood Country Club delivered one of the most memorable finishes in history, which was a fitting way to end the 15-year run of the event Tiger Woods hosts. Woods is moving the tournament to Florida, despite it being a successsful endeavor here.

Goodbye, Tiger Woods. It was nice knowing you.

Woods seemed a virtual lock to win the 18-player event with a two-shot lead after the third round and four-shot lead with eight holes to play, but Zach Johnson made this finale a doozy. Johnson holed out from the drop area on No. 18 after he hit into the hazard — in front of thousands of fans packed around the green — to help force a playoff, then he won on the first playoff hole after Woods missed a 5-foot putt.

The record crowd of 24,922 was stunned.

“It was a great week for us,” Woods said. “This is our last year, and to have it come down to what it did at the very end, it was pretty exciting as a player. And I’m sure as a spectator. All the people that were here, I’m sure they were pretty entertained.”

Most obviously wanted Woods — the world’s top-ranked player and man who brought the tournament here in 2000 — to win, but they sure were treated to a dandy. They also got sunny weather after rain a day earlier, but they had to brace awful traffic, including all those fans who came, and chilly temperatures and a deep gallery around Woods.

The day started with Portero Road, the only road that leads to Sherwood, looking much like the 405 Freeway for hours. Fans were in a major traffic jam, and the main parking lot was full early. The exodus must have been more of the same.

It was worth the hassle.

“That ending, I don’t want to be over-dramatic, but what a great ending,” said Greg McLaughlin, the tournament director and CEO of the Tiger Woods Foundation. “If Tiger had won, that really would’ve been a stellar ending. But Zach is a great champion.”

On the playoff hole at the 18th, Woods was in the fairway, then the greenside bunker but got out to about 5 feet. After Johnson two-putted for par, Woods’ putt missed on the left edge of the cup.

Johnson didn’t mind playing the role of villain with all those fans.

“I like playing with him,” Johnson said of Woods. “He’s a friend. He seems to bring out the worst and best in you, you know? I love that. I’m going to learn from it, and I learn from him.”

What we’ve learned is Woods was quite the host. He won here five times and made what’s known as a silly-season event a must-see event.

The bummer for Southern Californians is that the days of watching Woods up-close and personal are over. Woods plays at Torrey Pines, but he hasn’t played at Riviera Country Club in six years.

After losing, he signed autographs for a couple of minutes, then did interviews and walked by hundreds of fans still waiting, into Sherwood and then back to Florida, where he’ll try to reinvent the tournament on the opposite coast.

At least we were left with a dramatic finish.

It was nice knowing you, Tiger Woods.

Conservative play dooms Woods in final round

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – This one was over. Dead and buried. Change the channel and check the agate later, just to see the winning margin.

Tiger Woods led by four strokes with eight holes remaining in the final round of the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge, which is golf’s equivalent to the victory formation in football. Maybe he’d add another birdie or two down the stretch and win by five or six for good measure; maybe Zach Johnson, his playing partner and closest pursuer, would show a little grit and cut it to two or three, artfully clinching sole possession of second place.

Whatever the case, the end result was hardly in doubt. Woods was going to win this tournament. There have been less predictable endings to episodes of “Full House.”

And then he fumbled. From the victory formation.

Johnson picked up a stroke on the 11th hole, posting birdie to Woods’ par and cutting the lead to three. He picked up another on the next hole, then another two holes later. But the impossible was still improbable. The script was already written. The tournament host would put things into cruise control, stiff arm the competition, and claim this trophy for the sixth time.

What happened next had so many twists and turns it should have been contested in nearby Hollywood.

Woods finds good and bad in Sherwood farewell

(Reuters) - Tournament host Tiger Woods expressed bitter-sweet feelings after he lost out in a playoff for the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge on Sunday as the elite event ended a run of 14 years in California.

Next December, the World Challenge will shift to Isleworth Country Club outside Orlando in Florida, but Woods will long treasure memories of his five previous victories here and the $25 million raised by the tournament for his foundation.

"It is very sad to obviously leave Sherwood (Country Club) because there are so many great memories for me personally," world number one Woods told reporters after being beaten at the first extra hole by fellow American Zach Johnson.

"This was the last time my dad (Earl) ever got a chance to watch me play live, and this event has always had special meaning for my father and me.

"Without this event, we wouldn't be able to build the learning center which we did down in Orange County, and over 100,000 kids have now gone through our facilities."

Woods, World Challenge champion in 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2011, had been bidding for his sixth tournament victory of 2013 but was still able to reflect on a highly successful campaign after being denied by Johnson.

"Pretty damn good year," said Woods, who won a season-high five times on the PGA Tour before being voted Player of the Year for a record 11th time.

"Five wins, and you know, on some pretty good venues, so I'm very pleased with the year."

Though Woods failed to add to his career haul of 14 majors, he won five of his first 11 PGA Tour events, clinching the Farmers Insurance Open, the WGC-Cadillac Championship, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Players Championship and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

MAJOR LIKING

Woods especially likes the look of the venues for next year's majors.

He has always enjoyed playing at Augusta (Masters), has placed second and third in the last two U.S. Opens staged at Pinehurst and has previously triumphed at both Hoylake (2006 British Open) and Valhalla (2000 PGA Championship).

"I've won at every one, except for Pinehurst, and I'm trending in the right way," Woods said. "I've finished third, second. You get the picture, right?

"So I'm looking forward to the major championship venues next year. They have set up well for me over the years and I look forward to it."

As for his form at Sherwood Country Club this week, Woods was particularly pleased with the success of a new driver he put in his bag while he bemoaned his putting on three of the four days.

"I drove the ball great this week," he said. "I found a nice driver and I'm very pleased at the changes that I found in that. I think changing the shaft really made a big difference there.

"Most of the week though, except for Friday, I was struggling with my putting, blocking putts. Today was a perfect example of that. I blocked a lot of putts and just had a tough time finding my release point.

"The last hole, you know, being left-to-right and I just didn't want to block that one, and I didn't. I over released it."

Woods lipped out with a five-footer to bogey the first extra hole after Johnson had safely two-putted there for par.

"Putting comes and goes," said Woods. "It is what it is. You have your good days and bad days. Friday I made everything. And today was just one of those days where I just didn't make a lot." (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Gene Cherry)

Johnson stuns Woods to claim World Golf Challenge

Zach Johnson denied Tiger Woods a sixth tournament victory in 2013 in a dramatic climax to the World Golf Challenge at the Sherwood Country Club in California on Sunday.

The 2007 Masters champion secured the $1 million first prize at the first extra playoff hole, but it was his heroics moments earlier on the final regulation hole that left the crowds gasping.

He and Woods were tied for the lead on 13-under par as they headed down the 72nd hole, but when Johnson dumped his approach into the water his hopes looked to have sunk with his ball. But incredibly the Georgia native holed his fourth shot from the drop zone 65 yards out to claim an unlikely par and complete a four-under round of 68.

Woods, who had earlier led by four shots with eight to play, also made a meal of par at the 18th putting his second shot into greenside bunker before getting up and down to finish with a round of 70.

When the players returned to the play the 18th again in the playoff, it was Woods who blinked first, finding sand again with his approach while Johnson found the left side of the green.

Johnson two-putted for par but Woods, who played out to five feet saw his putt lip out, handing Johnson his second title of the year.

America's Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar finished tied for third on nine under with Graeme McDowell the highest placed European player.

The Northern Irishman finished in sixth place on five-under par while his compatriot Rory McIlroy, who won his first tournament of the year at the Australian Open last weekend, ended up down in 11th in the 18-man field.

Brilliant Bjorn wins in Sun City

Thomas Bjorn produced a stunning final round of 65 to claim a two-shot win at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City on Sunday.

The Dane's victory was sealed when he produced two eagles on the back nine at the Gary Player Country Club to finish on 20-under par, two shots ahead of overnight leader Jamie Donaldson from Wales and Spain's Sergio Garcia.

"This is right up there with the best days of my career," Bjorn said, 

"You never forget your first victory, and then my win against Tiger in Dubai when I went toe-to-toe with him for four days and came out top was special, but winning here in the way that I did against a field of this quality is up there.

"I knew I had to shoot something low and then see what Jamie was doing. It turned out that it was Sergio and every time I saw a leaderboard he was making birdies. I am very proud of the way I played today - it's a very special day in my career."

Jaye Marie Green wins LPGA Tour Q-school

Jaye Marie Green completed a runaway victory in the LPGA Tour qualifying tournament Sunday, finishing with a record 29-under 331 total for a 10-stroke margin.

The 19-year-old Green, from Boca Raton, closed with a 4-under 68 on LPGA International's Jones Course. She broke the event 90-hole mark of 18-under 342 set by Stacy Lewis in 2008.

"This is going to be a week that I'll always remember," Green said. "I was the most nervous on that last green when I didn't have to be, but I really was. But when that putt fell I was just speechless and I think I was just seeing stars really. It was a cool feeling. I just felt really relieved."

The top 20 earned Category 12 status, the next 26 players received membership in Category 17, and the other 22 players who made the 72-hole cut got Symetra Tour status.

South Korea's Mi Rim Lee was second after a 69. Tiffany Joh finished third at 15 under after a 71.

Amy Anderson, the 21-year-old former North Dakota State star who won a record 20 college titles, was fourth at 14 under after a 69.

"This is not what I expected at all," Anderson said. "The week or so leading up I was actually struggling with my game quite a bit. So I was thinking I would sneak in by the skin of my teeth. To come out here and just play well all week was really exciting and took the stress out of it."

Green bogeyed the par-3 third hole, ending a 59-hole run without a bogey. She rebounded with birdies on Nos. 5 and 6 to make the turn at 1 under. She birdied Nos. 10 and 11, dropped a stroke on the par-3 14th and closed with birdies on the final two holes.

Zach Johnson Chases Down Tiger

Zack Johnson birdied two of the final three holes to tie Tiger Woods in regulation, and then overcame the top-ranked player in the world with a par on the first playoff hole to win the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge. The $3.5 million invitation-only event was held for the final time at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Though Johnson's birdies got him into a tie with Woods, it was his amazing par on the 18th that kept him with a share of the lead at 13-under 275. After his approach found the water on Sherwood's par-4 closer, Johnson holed-out from the drop area for an unlikely par to send what was essentially a two-man match into extra holes.

On the first extra hole, again the 18th, Woods found the deep bunker in front of the green and missed his par putt from five feet. Meanwhile, Johnson's second found the left side of the green and he two-putted for the victory.

Johnson's clutch play down the stretch helped him overcome a four-stroke deficit with eight holes to play Sunday. Woods, the host of the event that's a fundraiser for his Tiger Woods Foundation, expressed admiration for the diminutive Iowan's play at the end.

"It was pretty impressive what he did the last three holes," Woods told a TV reporter. "I had a two-shot lead starting out the day. Zach, I don't know how the last three iron shots didn't go in the hole. It was pretty impressive on 16, 17 and 18. He got me."

Of his spectacular hole-out on the 72nd hole, Johnson said, "The (drop-area) shot was a little bit too dramatic for me. I'm lucky it went in."

The victory earned Johnson $1 million.

Bubba Watson (70) and Matt Kuchar (67) finished tied for third at 9-under 279, while another two strokes back was Webb Simpson (68). Two-time World Challenge winner Graeme McDowell (69) ended up in sixth at 283, and Ian Poulter also closed with a 69 to take seventh at 285.

Jim Furyk shot a 71 for eighth at 286, and another stroke back were Bill Haas (72) and Jason Day (73) in the tournament featuring all players in the world top-30. 

Rounding out the leaderboard was Rory McIlroy (70) in 11th at even-par 288, followed by Hunter Mahan (69, 291). Keegan Bradley (74) and Jason Dufner (69) sharing 13th at 292; Steve Stricker (72, 295) in 15th; Lee Westwood (74) and Jordan Spieth (71) at 297, and Dustin Johnson (74) in last at 11-over 299.

Zach Johnson wins play-off to deny Tiger Woods sixth title of 2013

The tournament host Tiger Woods was denied a sixth victory of the year when he lost the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge in a play-off with his fellow American Zach Johnson at Sherwood Country Club on Sunday.

Johnson, who had twice finished second to the world No1 at this event, sealed victory with a rock-solid par at the 18th, the first extra hole, where Woods lipped out with a five-footer to bogey.

The pair had finished the regulation 72 holes on 13-under-par 275, Woods with a 70 and Johnson, from four strokes behind, with four birdies in the last eight holes for a 68. At the 18th Johnson found water with his second, took a penalty drop but holed out from 65 yards for par. Woods, who had put his second into a greenside bunker, then had to get up and down to take the match into extra holes.

Zach Johnson charges late to beat Tiger Woods in playoff, World Challenge 2013

Zach Johnson delivered the kind of theatrics that usually belong to Tiger Woods to win the World Challenge.

Johnson holed out for par from the drop area on the 18th hole at Sherwood that got him into a playoff, and he won when Woods hit a poor shot into the bunker and missed a 5-foot par putt on the first extra hole.

The final World Challenge at Sherwood after 14 years was set up for the perfect sendoff.

There was a record crowd and the tournament host was poised to win. Instead, Johnson rallied from four shots down with eight holes to play for his second win this year.

Johnson moves into the top 10 in the world for the first time in his career.

Interview with Khammar Rahhioui at the Royal Golf Dar Es Salam

The Robert Trent Jones-designed Royal Dar Es Salam in Rabat, which hosted the Moroccan Open four times and the Hassan II Golf Trophy from 1971-2010, is hosting the three Pre-Qualifiers over a fortnight for the Lalla Aicha Tour School this year.

The Ladies European Tour had the great pleasure and honour of meeting a very important person who is responsible for the condition of the Red and Blue courses at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam.

Interviewing Mr. Khammar Rahhioui was like more than interviewing a normal head green keeper of a golf course. It was like interviewing an historian. He means everything to Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, and he, together with the designer Robert Trent Jones Sr., are the real parents of this marvellous and historic golf course in Rabat.

No one knows the course better than him: every bunker, every water hazard, every corner, as Royal Golf Dar Es Salam has been under his supervision since its construction in 1970. Such is the case that he was supposed to retire some time ago, but it seems that they cannot live without him.

Khammar was recruited the 1st of June 1970 to work for Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, when majority of the players at the Lalla Aicha Tour School were not even born. He has many certifications, some recognitions and prizes, including the “Diploma of Good Golf Course Maintenance” delivered by the International Green Keeper Association in 1981 and has done various post graduate works .

Q: Royal Golf Dar Es Salam is a 45-hole course, with two 18-holes courses, Red and Blue and additional 9-hole course, which is the Green Course. Could you tell me if they were built at the same time? 

The first one was the Red Course, in 1970 and then, in 1971, we started the Blue course and finally, the Green Course.

Q: How many people in total work together in your staff?

At the beginning, we were around 200 people but when this was under construction in 1970, there were a total of 600 people. Since that time, the staff we needed was smaller every year until now, when we have a total of 60 people for the maintenance. They are split into two groups, with one team per course. At the Red Course there are 18 people and 12 at Blue and Green courses. The drivers of the machinery are apart from this.

Q: What is the main difference between the Red and Blue courses?

The Red course is a bit more difficult as it was built and designed as a “professional course” for international competitions. The Blue course was initially designed for amateurs and the Green course was for the beginners. On the Red Course, there are a lot of obstacles, hazards and many bunkers… 95 bunkers compared to 20 bunkers at the Blue Course. There are a total of two water hazards at the Red Course and three at the Blue Course. But, the maintenance and work we spend is the same on both courses. And the greens are the same, too. The speed of the greens are now 3,4 m. on this event.

Q: What´s your opinion about Robert Trent Jones design?

I think Robert Trent Jones Sr. is the best golf course designer.

Q: How are the weather conditions here? Is it too difficult to maintain this course?

It is not too hard here….but the key is the over seeding. We do it every year from October-November and then aeration, verticud… We make sure the golf course remains green. I use “Ray- Grass” during the winter because it can hold well in low temperatures. Sometimes we have very low temperatures here during the winter, and unusually the go down to zero Celsius degrees. The maximum temperature here is around 30 degrees. During the summer, the “Ray- Grass” sleeps and the “Bermuda” and “Agrostis”, grow. Here we use a grass cocktail of five different types of grasses.

Q: Are there any stories that you could tell us, any special anecdotes about the preparation of the course?

I remember, it was in April, we were preparing one professional event of the Challenge Tour and it was approximately 1990. During April, the rain did not stop and the bunkers were full of water... and the fairways, too. We had to buy 10 pumps to take the water out from the bunkers so the players could play. I prepared the golf course ready to play in one and half hours. The rain dropped was 100ml in one hour. And the tournament could finally start. That was one of my worst experiences. During the 90s it rained a lot, there was a time that it rained for three months, but fortunately, it does not rain that much now.

Q: Tell us about the preparation of the course this week.

We have worked as we normally do with the Trophee Hassan II, for the European and Challenge Tours. We do aeration of fairways, vertical fairways, green and tees, top dressing greens, fairways and tees, etc… and then fertilization. We cut the grass, greens, fairways, tees… every day. So, I think the players are happy with the golf conditions.

Davenport's Popson Moves Up in LPGA Qualifying Tournament

DAYTONA BEACH | Polk County's Erica Popson moved up to a tie for seventh after four rounds with a 5-under-par 67 Saturday in the LPGA Tour qualifying tournament.

The Davenport and former Ridge Community and University of Tennessee standout has a card of 71-70-71-67—279 so far. The tournament ends today. The top 20 will be fully exempt from qualifying for all LPGA tournaments next year.

Former Florida Southern College All-American Jackie Stoelting could also make the grade with another round like Saturday's. A 70-under 65 rocketed her from 96th place after a 79 Friday to a tie for 34th. She has shot 71-72-79-65—287.

Jaye Marie Green increased her lead to 9 strokes Saturday, reaching 25 under after four rounds.

The 19-year-old Green, from Boca Raton, had a bogey-free 5-under 67 on LPGA International's Hills Course. She was 29th on the Symetra Tour money list this year.

South Korea's Mi Rim Lee was second after a 69, also on the Hills Course. She had a course-record 61 on Friday on the Jones Course.

The top 20 after the final round Sunday will earn Category 12 status, Nos. 21-45 and ties will receive membership in Category 17, and the other players who made the 72-hole cut will get Symetra Tour status.

Tiffany Joh was third at 13 under after a 69 on the Hills Course. Amy Anderson was fourth at 11 under after a 70 on the Hills Course.

Cheyenne Woods, Tiger Woods' niece, missed the cut. She closed with a 73 on the Hills Course to tie for 102nd at 8 over.