Tiger Woods has tied Sam Snead’s PGA Tour record of 82 career victories with his three-shot win in the Zozo Championship at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Japan.
Resuming his final round at the 12th hole this morning, Woods dropped a shot to see his lead over local hero Hideki Matsuyama cut to two strokes. However, Woods recovered with birdies at the inward nine’s two par-fives, 14 and 18, to seal the victory with a total of 19-under-par (64-64-66-67).
In the first ever PGA Tour event in his home country, Matsuyama finished solo second on 16-under-par (65-67-65-67) – three shots ahead of Rory McIlroy (72-65-63-67) and Sungjai Im (71-64-67-65).
Woods, 43, noted that his record-matching win was all about consistency. “Sam [Snead] did it into his 50s and I’m in my early to mid-40s … so it’s about being consistent and doing it for a very long period of time. I’ve been very fortunate to have had the career I’ve had so far,.
“To have won this tournament in Japan, it’s just so ironic because I’ve always been a global player, I’ve always played all around the world and to tie the record outside the United States is pretty cool,” said Woods, whose winning percentage on the PGA Tour now stands at a record 22.8%.
Matsuyama paid tribute to Woods but noted that he was looking forward to taking on the legend on home soil again in next year’s event. “It is something I cannot imagine, some number that regular people cannot think of. I must have revenge next year … he is coming back and I will be here,” noted the five-time PGA Tour winner.
Heavy rains on Friday had forced the second round to be played on Saturday, followed by the third round and part of the last round on Sunday.
Facts & Stats
- Tiger Woods earns his 82nd PGA Tour victory in his 359th start at the age of 43 years, 9 months, 28 days
- This was his 14th career victory when leading or co-leading after each round, most of any player since 1983
- Japan is the seventh country where Woods has won a PGA Tour event after USA, England, Scotland, Spain, Canada and Ireland
- Woods has the highest career winning percentage (minimum of 200 starts) in PGA Tour history at 22.8%
- Woods has converted 44 of 46 times (95.6%) when holding the outright 54-hole lead.
- Woods has converted 55 of 59 (93.2%) times when holding the 54-hole lead/co-lead including his last nine consecutive events
- Woods has posted PGA Tour wins in 19 different seasons, beginning in 1996
- Woods ranked third in the field in greens in regulation with 55/72 (76%) and T4 in putts per hole with 1.54
