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Woods' winning streak stays alive in dramatic comeback

Associated Press

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif.-An unforgettable comeback kept alive an unimaginable streak.

The ball dropped out of the gray sky and landed about four feet right of the 15th hole, with just enough spin to slide into the cup. Tiger Woods punched the cool, damp air with a right uppercut.

A roar resounded across Pebble Beach. It was the kind of shot that has defined his career, the kind of theater in which Woods thrives.

Seven strokes behind with seven holes to play, Woods rode the energy from his 97-yard eagle on the 15th hole to win the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am yesterday, making him the first player since Ben Hogan in 1948 to win six straight tour events.

Until yesterday, Woods' biggest comeback on the PGA Tour was four strokes going into the final round. He came from eight strokes behind to beat Ernie Els in the 1998 Johnnie Walker Classic on the European tour.

But this was something special.

''I don't know about destiny, he's just damned good,'' said Matt Gogel, the 28-year-old rookie who was on his way to a runaway victory until he turned into another victim in The Streak.

Woods closed with an 8-under 64, the lowest final round by a champion in the 53-year history of Pebble Beach and his lowest closing round in any of his 20 worldwide victories.

He finished at 15-under 273 for a two-stroke victory over Gogel and Vijay Singh. He earned $720,000, moving Woods to No. 2 on the PGA Tour's career money list with more than $12.5 million.

''It's not over until it's over,'' Woods said about his comeback, although he could just as well be talking about a PGA Tour winning streak that began in August.

''I figured I needed to birdie the last four holes,'' he said. ''I didn't do that, but I still played it 4 under.''

He managed that with an eagle from the 15th fairway, turning to the camera with a simple but powerful message: ''I'm back in it.''

He followed that with another wedge on the 16th that landed an inch in front of the cup on its second bounce and stopped two feet away for a birdie. And he finished it off with a three-foot birdie putt on the 18th, and a clench of the fist for a comeback he ranks among his best ever.

After he won the Mercedes Championship in Hawaii last month, Woods said he considered his streak to be at one because it's a new year. Now, he's starting to wonder.

''It's definitely more intriguing, there's no doubt about that,'' he said.

Gogel had a chance to force a playoff, but his 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th slid by on the left. In a state of shock, he missed the putt coming back to make bogey, which dropped him in a tie for second with Singh and cost Gogel $80,000.

Gogel birdied five of the first seven holes to seemingly turn the final round into a rout. He thought the cheers he heard in front of him belonged to either Singh or Notah Begay, and was surprised to see Woods' name atop the leaderboard when he got to the 18th green.