This is the 14th year in a row that the Tiger Woods Foundation has held the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge at the Sherwood Country Club in California, however, it will be the last year that the event will be held here. The event drew record crowds this year and the strongest field ever, with no player outside the Top 30 in the Official Golf World Rankings. Next year, it will be hosted in Florida at Isleworth, but what a way to close out the tournament and it’s run at this gorgeous golf course! For the second year in a row, Zach Johnson and Tiger Woods were paired together in the final group and provided some great drama for a December tournament!
Johnson faced an uphill battle from the start of play Sunday, trailing Tiger Woods, who has a 48-5 record worldwide with an outright lead heading into the final round, by 2 shots. Johnson would fall as far as four shots back, but pulled within one stroke after Tiger bogeyed no. 14, and finally tied the tournament host with a birdie on no. 17. Johnson had a chance to win on the 72nd hole after Tiger’s approach shot found a deep greenside bunker, but Johnson’s approach was even worse as he shanked an 8-iron from roughly 159 yards! Here is where the drama unfolded though, as Johnson holed his fourth shot to save par from the drop zone, forcing Tiger to get up and down to save par and force a playoff. Tiger lost the only previous playoff at this event to Graeme McDowell in 2010. See the amazing wedge hole out below!
They would replay the 18th hole in the playoff and Tiger would find the same greenside bunker again while Johnson was about 30 feet away from the hole on the left side. Johnson would make his par while Tiger blasted out of the bunker and had a short putt from inside four feet. He would need to make the putt to extend the playoff, but his putt hit the lip of the hole and spun out, giving Johnson his first World Challenge title! It was such an exciting couple of holes to watch as Johnson really played some excellent golf and showed us all an amazing display of consistency with his irons and wedges from holes 16 to 18 (aside from the shank!).
With this win, Zach Johnson is now in the Top 10 in the Official Golf World Rankings. Tiger also played very well throughout the week including a round of 62 during the second round to tie his own course record. He’s had five wins and now five runner-up finishes at Sherwood – we hope he continues his strong play into the 2014 season! Looks like the PGA Tour might have compiled their Top 10 Moments in 2013 a little too early!
Source: Tiger Woods Foundation
