Woods wins WGC at a canter

In the final event ahead of the USPGA Championship at Southern Hills this week, world number one Tiger Woods stamped his authority on the game by marching to an eight-shot victory. The world number one started the day a shot behind leader Rory Sabbatini but finished out of sight, leaving a world-class field spluttering in his wake.

?That was fun out there,? said a smiling Tiger afterwards. He started the final round with three birdies in four holes and didn?t drop a shot all day, despite the tough conditions. Woods was the only person in the field to finish under par and in doing so he claimed his second hatrick of WGC victories.

In contrast to Tiger, Sabbatini could only manage a closing 74 which left him tied for second with Justin Rose ? the Englishman had a 68. While Open champion Padraig Harrington closed with a 72, good enough for 14th.

?I just figured if I could keep the card clean I would put a lot of heat on the guys to come and get me,? said Tiger. ?I feel like I am in better shape heading into this Major than I was heading into the last.?

WGC Invitational ? final leaderboard

-8 T Woods (USA)

Level J Rose (ENG), R Sabbatini (SA)

+1 P Lonard (AUS), C DiMarco (USA)

+2 A Romero (ARG)