Woods Overwhelms Cink For His Fifth Straight Win

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

MARANA, Ariz. — Tiger Woods still rules the world of golf, perhaps now more than ever.

With a record-breaking victory yesterday in the Accenture Match Play Championship, Woods won his fifth straight tournament and captured his 15th World Golf Championship, holding all three world titles for the first time.

Golf is not a fair fight at the moment.

Stewart Cink found that out at Dove Mountain, where Woods overwhelmed him with 14 birdies

in 29 holes for an 8-and-7 victory, the largest margin in the final in the 10-year history of this tournament.

“I think maybe we ought to slice him open to see what’s inside,” Cink said. “Maybe nuts and bolts.”

Cink was only the latest victim in a winning streak that dates to the first week of September.

Woods has won four straight times on the PGA Tour, the third time he has built a streak at least that long. He has set the tournament record for margin of victory in his last three wins. And it was his fifth straight victory worldwide, including his stunning comeback in Dubai three weeks ago.

“I think this is the best stretch I’ve ever played,” Woods said.

The world’s no. 1 player began this season talking about the Grand Slam.

The first stop was a Triple Crown of the WGCs, completing a sweep that included an 8-shot victory in the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone and a two-shot victory in the CA Championship at Doral. Woods’ tour winning streak was at seven last year when Nick O’Hern beat him in the third round of the Match Play. Given the fickle nature of this format, even Woods said it was the toughest tournament to win this side of a major.

Turns out the hard part was just getting to the final match. Woods rallied from three down with five holes to play in the opening round against J.B. Holmes by winning four straight holes with three birdies and a 35-foot eagle. He twice watched Aaron Baddeley putt from inside 12 feet to win a third-round match, beating the Australian in 20 holes. And he was stretched to 18 holes in the semifinals against defending champion Henrik Stenson. But the final was no contest. He built a 4-up lead after the morning round, and Cink never got any closer.

Cink didn’t win a hole until no. 12, and the only hole he won in the afternoon came at the par-5 10th when he rolled in a 36-foot eagle putt. Woods had an eagle putt from 35 feet, and the ball spun around the cup.

“Even the minuscule amount that I upstaged him there — him being 8 up — I still thought he was going to make it,” Cink said. “He lipped it out, and I thought, ‘Hey, come on. At least give me a moment to shine here.’ And he said, ‘Sorry, dude.'”

Woods has won 63 times on the PGA Tour, moving past Arnold Palmer into fourth place on the career list, one victory behind Ben Hogan, and each year getting closer to the record 82 tournaments won by Sam Snead.

“I can’t wait to see Arnie,” Woods said, grinning. “Just to be mentioned in the same breath as Arnold Palmer and Ben Hogan, you know you’ve had a pretty good career.”

Woods is a staggering 15-of-26 in official WGC events, three of those in the Match Play Championship. Darren Clarke (Match Play, Bridgestone) is the only other player with multiple WGC victories.


The New York Sun

© 2025 The New York Sun Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The material on this site is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used.

The New York Sun

Sign in or  create a free account

or
By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use