Story highlights
Tiger Woods wins the Players Championship after collapse from Sergio Garcia
Garcia hit two tee shots into the water at the 17th hole, ending his challenge
World No. 1 Woods wins the event for the first time since 2001
The American is now just four wins off Sam Snead's record of 82 PGA Tour victories
A collapse on the penultimate tee of the Players Championship by Sergio Garcia allowed Tiger Woods to win the $1.7 million tournament for the second time in his career.
Spain’s Garcia looked to be heading into a playoff with world No. 1 Woods before hitting two tee shots into the water at the 17th hole to throw away any chance he had of winning the title he picked up in 2008.
A war of words between the two players broke out on Saturday when Garcia blamed Woods for crowd noise which he claimed distracted him during his swing.
It led to Garcia describing Woods as “not the nicest guy on Tour”, but the American had the last laugh as a final round of 70 saw him finish top of the leaderboard on 13-under par, six strokes ahead of the Spaniard.
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“It sounds like I was the bad guy here,” Garcia told the PGA Tour’s official website. “I was the victim. I don’t have any regrets of anything.
“That hole has been good to me for the most part,” Garcia said of the 17th after carding a final round of 76.
“Today, it wasn’t. That’s the way it is. That’s the kind of hole it is. You’ve got to love it for what it is.
“It’s always nice to have a chance at beating the No. 1 player in the world, but unfortunately for me, I wasn’t able to this week.”
For Woods it was a fourth tournament win of the year, one which moved him onto 78 PGA Tour wins, four off Sam Snead’s record of 82.
“We just go out there and play,” said Woods, who won the Players for the first time in 2001 and took his earnings for 2013 to over $5.8m from just seven tournaments.
“I had an opportunity to win the golf tournament when I was tied for the lead, and I thought I handled the situation well and really played well when I really needed to. And that’s something I’m excited about it.”
Sweden’s David Lingmerth, playing alongside Garcia, missed a birdie putt on the 17th which would have seen him pull level with Woods.
In the end Lingmerth (72) finished 11 under in a three-way tie for second with American duo Kevin Streelman (67) and Jeff Maggert (70).
Garcia was part of a seven-strong group on seven under which also included two-time major winner Rory McIlroy and former world No. 1 Lee Westwood.