Woods storms to emphatic win

FINAL LEADERBOARD:
US unless stated
-8 T Woods
Level J Rose (Eng)
+1 P Lonard (Aus), C DiMarco
Selected others:
+2 A Romero (Arg)
+5 P Harrington (Ire)
+6 S Garcia (Spa)
+7 L Westwood (Eng), E Els (SA), L Donald (Eng)

Tiger Woods brushed aside overnight leader Rory Sabbatini and stormed to a stunning eight-shot victory in the WGC Invitational at Firestone Country Club.

The world number one trailed the South African by one shot on Sunday morning but bludgeoned his way to a closing 65 for eight under par.

England's Justin Rose climbed into a share of second with Sabbatini (74) after a 68 for level par.

Woods has now won the event six times and claimed 14 WGC tournaments in all.

The 31-year-old 12-time major winner overhauled Sabbatini with three birdies in the first four holes in wet conditions before running away with the tournament.

"That was fun," said Woods. "You couldn't get off to any better start than I did today - I was four under through five.

"I just figured if I would have kept the card clean - no bogeys - I would put a lot of heat on the guys to come and get me.

"All the guys at level par would then have to shoot a miracle back nine."

The outspoken Sabbatini sparked controversy at the Wachovia Championship in May when he made no secret of his desire to go head-to-head with Woods.

Then, he held a one-shot lead over Woods going into the final round but dropped back into a tie for third as Woods triumphed.

In Ohio on Sunday, Sabbatini birdied the 1st but dropped shots at four and five as Woods breezed past.

Sabbatini double-bogeyed the 9th and dropped two more shots coming in, before a birdie on 17 edged him back up alongside Rose.

The Englishman picked up four shots in his first eight holes but his challenge ran out of steam with bogeys on 11 and 14.

Source: BBC Sport