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Torr’ blimey: Tiger Woods will take a six-shot lead into today’s final few holes at Torrey Pines

Tiger Woods is on the brink of winning for the eighth time as a professional at Torrey Pines as he leads the weather-disrupted Farmers Insurance Open by six shots.

The former world No.1 will take that huge advantage into the conclusion of the tournament today where he has 11 ten holes left to complete after heavy fog on Saturday resulted in a marathon Sunday.

All signs are pointing towards a 75th PGA Tour win for Woods, who has won the Famers Insurance Open six times previously at the California club, which was also the venue of his most recent major victory when it staged the 2008 US Open.

However, even with such a great record at Torrey Pines and with a lead as healthy as his is, Woods – who played 25 holes on Sunday to make up ground lost by Saturday’s fog-out – is taking nothing for granted

“I’ve got to continue with executing my game plan,” said the 37-year-old. “That’s the idea. I’ve got 11 holes to play, and I’ve got to go out there and play them well.”

A win for Woods would be the perfect way to bounce back after his humiliating exit from the Abu Dhabi Championship last week. Having finished seemingly one shot inside the cut line, a retrospective two-shot penalty for a bad drop saw his first tournament of 2013 end after just 36 holes. Woods, however, has refused to beat himself up too much about it.

“I didn’t play poorly he said. “I was really close. It’s a very tight golf course with a lot of crosswinds. I felt like I didn’t really hit it that poorly. I had an unfortunate ruling there. I broke a rule and missed the cut.

“I played well enough to be there on the weekend, and could have gotten two more rounds in competitively, but I didn’t really play poorly. I thought I did a lot of good things.”

Woods, whose last PGA Tour victory came at the AT&T National in July last year, also paid tribute to the influence of his caddie Joe LaCava.

The duo began working with each other in September of 2011 after Woods dismissed his long-standing bagman Steve Williams.

“We’re definitely gelled,” said the 14-time major winner. “We go out there and have a good time. He knows how far I’m hitting it, what shapes I like to hit under certain circumstances, and he’ll kind of sway me into certain shots here and there. But it’s nice to get his opinion at times when I’m stuck in between clubs or stuck in between reads on the green.”

Should he close out the win at Torrey Pines, Woods would not climb back to the top of the world rankings. However, with the present incumbent, Rory McIlroy, not likely to play again before the WGC-Accenture Matchplay Championship at the end of February, Woods may be tempted to add the Northern Trust Open at Riviera to his schedule to supplant the Northern Irishman at the top of the standings.

 

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Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor

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