Date: March 25, 2008
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Ogilvy ends Tiger’s run

Tiger Woods&apos astonishing seven-event winning streak came to a quiet end as Australian Geoff Ogilvy won the CA Championship in Miami. Woods, who had not been beaten in nearly seven months, had a horrendous week on the greens, but in the end finished only two strokes off the pace, a testament to his peerless ability. He made a mini charge late in the final round but in the end left himself with too much work as Ogilvy eked out a one-stroke victory over Fijian Vijay Singh, American Jim Furyk and South African Retief Goosen, with Woods alone in fifth place at Doral Resort&aposs Blue Monster. “I made too many mistakes this week,” Woods acknowledged. “I had four three-putts, two terrible lies in bunkers and a photographer got me (by snapping early on hole nine). “With all that, to finish only two back, I think that&aposs a great sign. I don&apost think you guys or the fans really understand just how small the difference is (between winning and not winning).” Ogilvy, meanwhile, was delighted to end a near two-year drought since his previous victory at the 2006 US Open. He had a two-stroke lead with nine holes left when the final round resumed on Monday, and got the job done by parring every hole on the way home. He had a spot of luck at the par-three 13th, where a 30-foot chip shot for par clattered against the pin and dropped in. That saved him at least one stroke, maybe even two, but he was very steady apart from that, forcing his pursuers to come at him. “I didn&apost think nine pars would do it,” said Ogilvy, surprised that nobody applied more pressure. “Holding off the group is pretty nice. There was a fair bit of talent on the leaderboard. It&aposs nice to come in in front of them, ending the (Woods) streak.” Ogilvy&aposs fourth professional victory saw him become just the third player to win more than one WGC event, joining Woods (15) and Darren Clarke (two). And though he did not play a spectacular back nine Ogilvy played the dangerous par-four flawlessly. He hit a perfect drive down the middle of the fairway, avoiding the water, and followed it with an eight iron to the heart of the green before leaving his first putt stone dead. That left Singh needing to chip in from 25 feet to force a play-off but he could not and Ogilvy was left with a tap-in. “My standard of play was best on Thursday and worst today,” said Ogilvy, who led after every round. “I played so good on Thursday it was silly. Saturday was OK and by this morning I was hanging on a little bit, but maybe that&aposs what it feels like sometimes on the last nine holes of a tournament.” Singh added: “Geoff played well and I have to give him credit. I&aposm pretty happy with my result, considering I shot 73 on the first day. I made two bad mistakes today and then I came back strong.” He was referring to bogeys at the 13th and 14th holes, which he followed up with birdies at the 16th and 17th. But he needed a hat-trick of birdies to force extra holes, and it was not to be. Final Results from the CA Championship, Miami -17: Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 65, 67, 68, 71 -16: Retief Goosen 71, 69, 64, 68, Jim Furyk 69, 71, 64, 68, Vijay Singh 73, 68, 63, 68 -15: Tiger Woods 67, 66, 72, 68, -13: Steve Stricker 71, 68, 73, 63, Nick O Hern (Australia) 67, 75, 67, 66, Graeme Storm 71, 70, 63, 71 -12: Zach Johnson 69, 72, 67, 68, Adam Scott (Australia) 67, 68, 69, 72 -11: Soren Kjeldsen 69, 71, 71, 66, Zach Johnson 69, 72, 67, 66 -10: K.J. Choi 70, 70, 67, 71, Anders Hansen 67, 71, 67, 73, Tim Clark 71, 69, 66, 72 -9: Aaron Baddeley (Australia) 69, 74, 70, 66, Justin Rose 70, 71, 70, 68, Sergio Garcia 70, 71, 70, 68, Stephen Ames 73, 68, 68, 70, Gregory Havret 68, 74, 68, 69, Also: -8: Robert Allenby (Australia) 69, 75, 66, 70 -5: Stuart Appleby (Australia) 73, 71, 68, 71 -1: Brendan Jones (Australia) 76, 75, 66, 67 -2: Richard Green (Australia) 74, 72, 71, 70 3: Paul Sheehan (Australia) 72, 73, 72, 71 7: Craig Parry (Australia) 73, 75, 72, 75 9: Mark Brown (New Zealand) 73, 74, 76, 74