Tiger Woods wins British Open
Tiger Woods wins British Open
With Sunday's win, Woods tied Walter Hagen for 11 majors, still seven behind Jack Nicklaus' record 18.

Hoylake (England): Tiger Woods captured his second consecutive British Open, his third overall and 11th major on Sunday with a 5-under 67 to finish on 18-under 270.

With this he became the first man in 23 years to retain his British Open title.

Woods was two shots clear of Chris DiMarco, who shot a 68. Ernie Els placed third, five strokes behind after a round of 71.

Jim Furyk was six strokes behind after a 71 with Hideto Tanihara and Sergio Garcia both finishing seven off the pace.

Woods' triumph at Royal Liverpool made him the first player to win back-to-back Opens since Tom Watson in 1982-83.

Woods tapped in for par for a two-shot victory over DiMarco, and pent-up emotions tore through his lips as he screamed "Yes!"

He then buried his head in caddie Steve Williams' shoulder and sobbed, his chest heaving in a burst of emotion brought on by the recent death of father, Earl.

Woods tied Walter Hagen for 11 majors, still seven behind Jack Nicklaus' record 18. The victory also meant that Woods now has a 7-0 record in majors where he has led going into the final round.

Woods was strong down the stretch, with birdies on 14, 15 and 16 to hold off DiMarco.

For the fourth day in a row, players went out in warm, sunny conditions, this time with a gentle breeze blowing across Royal Liverpool links, which have been baked by weeks of hot, dry weather.

Woods parred the first four holes but was close to birdies with long range putts.

But he moved two ahead with a 20-foot eagle putt at the par fifth and increased his lead to three with a birdie at 10, the easiest hole on the course.

But his lead was cut to one when he missed the green at the 12th to wind up with a bogey five after DiMarco had rolled in a birdie putt for a two at the 13th.

DiMarco was in trouble at 14 when he found the rough off the tee and needed a 50-footer to make par. He made it to stay one behind and keep the pressure on the defending champion.

Playing behind DiMarco, Woods got his second shot at the same hole to eight feet from the flag and he made that for a birdie to move two clear.

Although DiMarco made birdie at 16, Woods responded with another at 15 to stay two ahead. He moved to another easy par five and made his third birdie in a row to move to 18 under.

Chasing a second Open title to go with triumph at Muirfield in 2002 and his two US Open titles, Els moved level with Woods after a birdie at the fifth.

But bogeys at eight and 10 dropped him back and he never recovered.

Garcia, Woods' playing partner starting a shot behind, quickly fell out of contention and was seven off the lead by the turn.

The Spaniard, still chasing his first major, was unable to stay in touch and bogeyed the second and third by missing putts of six and three feet.

He also missed 10-footers at eight and nine and reached the turn at 8-under, seven off the lead.

After carding 29 for the outward nine on Saturday, he covered the same nine in 39 on Sunday.

Masters champion Phil Mickelson, way back with 10 strokes to make up on the leaders, finished with a two-under 70 and a five-under total of 283.

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