Tiger sinks Cink

Tiger Woods notched his sixth victory in a row when he blew away hapless Stewart Cink by a record margin in the final of the Accenture Match Play Championship.

Top seed Woods quickly established his dominance over fellow American Cink in the 36-hole final, and never looked back as he posted a record crushing 8 and 7 victory at Dove Mountain.

It is the largest winning margin in the final of the event, beating the previous record 6 and 5 victory by David Toms in the 2005 final.

And it is Woods’ third victory in this event, and his 15th in 26 starts in the three tournaments that comprise the World Golf Championships.

And he posted his 63rd career victory on the PGA Tour, moving to fourth on the all-time list, behind Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus and Ben Hogan.

Woods has won seven of his past eight official starts worldwide stretching back to last August, his only defeat a second-placing in Boston last September.

He did not make a bogey until the 18th hole, where he plugged his second shot in a greenside bunker. But even that did not cost him anything, as Cink, usually the most reliable of putters, missed a seven-footer that would have given him the hole.

Earlier, he wasted little time asserting his authority, halving the par-5 first hole with a par, before winning the second with a birdie, rolling in a 20-foot putt.

Two more quick birdies, followed by a Cink bogey at the par-3 eighth, left Woods 4-up at the turn.

As if that was not bad enough for Cink, he fell further behind with a bogey at the par-4 11th, before finally winning his first hole of the day with a birdie at the par-4 12th.

Cink also won the par-3 16th, sinking a 25-foot putt, and just for a minute it seemed that with momentum on his side, it perhaps would turn into a competitive match.

Woods, however, was having none of it. He came up just short of the green with his second shot at the par-5 17th, and chipped close to win the hole and re-establish his 4-up lead.

And though Woods opened the door at the par-4 18th, Cink was unable to take advantage.

If Cink hoped for an unlikely comeback over the second 18 holes, a Woods birdie at the par-4 second showed that it was not to be.

Woods had an uncharacteristically sloppy bogey at the par-5 fifth, but Cink could not take advantage of it, also making bogey as he missed a six-footer.

Woods promptly won the next three holes with birdies and finally closed it out when he hit his second shot close at the par-4 11th, with Cink conceding the putt.

Cink, who for all his talent has just four PGA Tour victories, admitted on Saturday that he is an “underachiever”, a tag that few would dispute judging by the way the 22nd seed played.

This is just Woods’ third start of the year. He blew away the field to win the PGA Tour’s Buick Invitational by eight strokes last month, before capturing the European Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic the following week.