Woods coasts to a runaway victory at BMW Championship

Tiger Woods win BMW on Track for the 10 million

LEMONT, Ill. — Tougher, redesigned course. Same Tiger Woods.

The world’s No. 1 golfer returned to one of his favorite playgrounds after a one-year hiatus and reclaimed it as his own, running away with the BMW Championship at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club. Woods, who pulled away from the field Saturday with a course-record 9-under-par 62, coasted to a 3-under 68 Sunday to finish at 19-under 265 — eight strokes ahead of Jim Furyk and Marc Leishman.

SCORES: BMW Championship

He regained the top spot in the FedExCup standings and will lead the 30 qualifiers into the final event, the Sept. 24-27 Tour Championship in Atlanta. And he feels he is playing his best golf of the season, saying he has hit the ball well since the British Open and now his putts are falling.

“I made some putts and I got rolling, something I haven’t done the last few tournaments,” said Woods, who finished second at the PGA Championship, then tied for second and tied for 11th in the first two playoff tournaments.

“To play as well as I have of late and not get the W’s has been a little bit frustrating, no doubt, because I’ve been so close,” he said.

It figures that Cog Hill put him back on top. In 11 events as a pro at the suburban Chicago layout, Woods has won five times, finished second twice and recorded nine top-10 finishes. The BMW rotated to St. Louis last year and Cog Hill underwent a $5.2 million renovation by architect Rees Jones, designed to make it worthy of hosting a U.S. Open.

Woods said he expected any score at double digits under par would win, then he came within three strokes of his tournament record 22-under set in 2007, before the makeover.

He took a seven-shot lead into Sunday and never led by fewer than six the final day. “I knew if I shot under par, I’d

Tiger Woods win BMW on Track for the 10 million

really make those guys work to put it into extra holes or win outright,” he said.

The win was his sixth this year and 71st of his career on the PGA Tour, putting him two behind Jack Nicklaus for second on the all-time list. Though he didn’t win a major, Woods said he’d rank this among his top seasons.

“Absolutely, it’s one of my best years. There’s no doubt,” said Woods, who was returning from knee surgery in 2008. “I haven’t won as many times as I did in 2000, didn’t win any majors this year, but … I’ve never had a year where I’ve been this consistent, either.”

Woods enters the Tour Championship as one of five players who can win the $10 million FedExCup with a victory in the tournament. With the tweaked format this year, any of the top five in the standings is guaranteed the title with a win in the finale. Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson and Heath Slocum are Nos. 2-5, respectively.

Stricker, who entered the week No. 1 after his victory in the Deutsche Bank Championship, blew up to a 6-over 77 for a 290 total to finish tied for 53rd.

“I really had nothing all week,” said Stricker, who knew he could drop no lower than one place in the standings. “I was just not in it. I just didn’t have a good frame of mind going.”

Phil Mickelson, who was undecided about playing until early in the week, closed with a 76 to finish at 2-over 286. Mickelson, who slipped from 12th to 14th in points, plans to play the Tour Championship “unless something were to come up.” He has had a flexible schedule this summer since his wife and mother were diagnosed with cancer.

John Senden secured the 30th spot, just ahead of Ian Poulter.

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