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 Tournament officials did not receive word of Sabbatini’s withdrawal until an hour before his 9:45 a.m. tee time. Sabbatini cited personal reasons for leaving, yet his agent, Bud Martin, spoke on the behalf of the outspoken South African saying that his client was suffering shin splints. Further adding to the intrigue of Sabbatini’s withdrawal was that a locker room attendant, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Sabbatini cleared out his locker at 3 p.m. on Saturday. “We’re disappointed that he withdrew,” said Tournament Director Greg McLaughlin. “It’s the first time in the history of the event that we’ve ever had a professional not complete four rounds of competition.” Woods heard about Sabbatini’s withdrawal when he arrived at Sherwood Country Club Sunday morning, but did not comment about it until after his round. “I just don’t really understand,” he said. “I’d like to try and get to the bottom of it when I’m done here, and we’ll see what happens.” Once the final pairing of Furyk and Woods teed off, the center of attention shifted to Furyk’s play as he reduced a six-shot deficit to two shots after the front nine. Furyk made four birdies in a five-hole stretch that started at the 459-yard, par-4 4th — which played as the most difficult hole throughout the tournament — and ended on the 232-yard, par-3 8th, which was the second hardest hole for the tournament. At one point during the front nine, Woods was two-under par but bogeys on the 7th and 9th holes put him back to even par for his round. But he still had the lead. “I started playing conservative since I did not feel quite right with my swing and I kept reminding myself that I still had the lead and Jim had to catch me.” Woods said. “I knew if I was one-under par on the first three holes of the back nine I would be in good position to win.” However, Woods did not have to wait that long to add to his lead. On the opening hole of the back nine, Furyk hit his approach shot to 5 feet but three putted for bogey after Woods made his 15-foot birdie putt, and the lead was back up to four. “I started to press after 10 and then it bit me,” Furyk said. “I’m disappointed in playing sloppy in spots. My attitude wasn’t as good as I needed it to be on the back nine.” Such sloppy play from Furyk was evident on the 186-yard par-3 15th hole when he hit his tee shot fat into a water hazard resulting in a double bogey. On the following hole, Woods solidified his victory by making an 18-foot eagle putt on the 570-yard par 5 to increase his lead to eight shots. Masters Champion Zach Johnson converted a tricky 25-foot putt on the final hole for birdie to finish the tournament in second place at 15-under par, two shots ahead of Jim Furyk. “It just seems like it’s a pretty good way to end ’07 for me, because it’s been a good one,” Johnson said. After the tournament Woods reflected on his year. “It’s been a long year but also one that we’ve thoroughly enjoyed,” he said. “I just can’t wait until next season starts.” Yet the biggest winner of the event was the Tiger Woods Foundation, which received Woods’ $1.35 million winner’s check. Since the inception of the Target World Challenge, Woods has donated all of his earnings to his foundation — a grand total of $6,947,500. |
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