Woods Wins BMW, Taking FedEx Lead

LEMONT, ILL. — The champion at Cog Hill, the front-runner for the FedEx Cup.

Indeed, Tiger Woods is where most everyone figured he would be heading into the final week of the PGA Tour Playoffs.

With a 50-foot birdie putt that got him back on track Sunday, Woods matched the lowest final round of his career with an 8-under 63 that shattered the scoring record at Cog Hill and gave him a two-shot victory in the BMW Championship.

Woods took the lead for good with a 12-foot birdie on the 13th hole and kept his distance from Aaron Baddeley and Steve Stricker with a swing so solid that he missed only two fairways all weekend. Woods finished at 22-under 262, breaking by five shots the record he set four years ago at Cog Hill.

It also gave him a commanding lead with one week remaining in the FedEx Cup.

Woods goes to East Lake in Atlanta with a 3,133-point lead over Steve Stricker, who finished third at Cog Hill, and a 4,120-point margin over Phil Mickelson, who decided not to play this week.

Mickelson, the Deutsche Bank Championship winner Monday, will have to win to have any hopes of capturing the FedEx Cup and the $10 million prize. If Stricker does not win at East Lake, Woods could win the cup by finishing second.

Only two other players — Rory Sabbatini and K.J. Choi — have a mathematical chance of winning the FedEx Cup.

All that mattered at the moment was winning at Cog Hill for the fourth time. It was Woods's sixth victory of the year, and the 60th in his 11 years on the PGA Tour. He earned $1.26 million to go over $9 million for the fourth time in his career.

Baddeley closed with a 66, while Stricker bogeyed his final hole for a 68 to finish four shots behind.

Stewart Cink, Tim Clark, and Camilo Villegas all finished in the top 10 and earned enough points to move into the top 30 in the playoff standings and qualify for the Tour Championship at East Lake.