Tiger Woods won the Zozo Championship in Japan. It was his 82nd PGA Tour title. That drew him level with Sam Snead at the top of the all-time list.
Wire-to-wire through a typhoon
Woods began three over par after three holes. Then he made nine birdies to shoot an opening 64. He held the lead and never gave it back.
A typhoon dropped about 10 inches of rain on the course. The whole second round was washed out. Woods came back and shot another 64.
The final round ran into Monday morning. Woods bogeyed the 12th, and his three-shot lead shrank to two. But Hideki Matsuyama missed a short birdie putt at the 14th, Woods birdied the same hole, and he closed with a birdie on 18 for a three-stroke win.
A record reached nine years sooner than Snead
Snead was 52 when he won for the 82nd time. Woods did it at 43. Japan became the seventh country in which he has won on Tour.
The title came just months after his fifth knee operation, in August 2019. In April he had won the Masters, his 15th major and first in over a decade. “It’s a big number,” Woods said. “It’s about consistency and doing it for a long period of time.”
Gary Woodland played the last two rounds with him. He called it “just a crazy number. You look at the guys that have won 10 times and it’s pretty special.”
The record was now shared, and the top of the list sat within reach.
