Woods relieved to see off challengers

Tournament host Tiger Woods saw off defending champion Anthony Kim and held off a last-round charge from Hunter Mahan to win the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club.

Woods collected his third victory of the year having won Arnold Palmer’s event at Bay Hill in March and Jack Nicklaus’s Memorial last month, by winning his own tournament by one stroke from Mahan with a final-round, three-under-par 67.

Mahan had earlier shot a 62 that matched Kim’s course-record round from Thursday and took the American to 12 under but Woods moved in front with a birdie at the 16th and held onto his lead down the final stretch.

“It was a long week, but I got the win,” Woods said. “I just felt that today starting out with looking at the pin locations that I felt like if I shot something under par it would be good enough, but it wouldn’t have been.

“What Hunter did today was pretty impressive. I certainly didn’t see that score out there. He went out there and put so much pressure on both AK and I."

It was Woods’ 68th PGA Tour win, moving him to within five of Nicklaus, and the champion said it had been different to his two previous victories this year.

“Today was different because Hunter posted so early, and you’re in a position where you can lose a golf tournament, sitting that far back with that many holes to go.

“Granted, you can also win it, but also, you have more of an opportunity to go both ways. That puts a lot more heat on you, and on a golf course like this where birdies are hard to come by, that really puts a lot of heat on you."

Woods finished at 13 under, a shot ahead of Mahan with Kim, having shot a 71 to finish third on nine under par, although the outgoing champion was philosophical in defeat.

“I know I’ll be knocking at the door again, it’s just a matter of time,” Kim said. “I’ve gotten a lot better, stayed a lot more patient than I used to. So it’s only a matter of time.

“I learned that if you have a birdie putt, you’d better make it, especially on the last day.

“Tiger obviously wins for a reason. He makes the putts when he needs to. Unfortunately they didn’t drop for me today. They’ll drop.”

Bryce Molder finished in fourth place on eight under with US Open champion Lucas Glover, level for the day, and Brandt Snedeker, who shot a 67, tied for fifth at seven under.

Vijay Singh had showed that low scoring was possible with six birdies in his first 13 holes before two bogeys left the Fijian with a 66 to finish at six under for the tournament, tied for seventh with New Zealand rookie Danny Lee and Americans Jim Furyk and Cameron Beckman.

Justin Rose of England finished with a 69 to close at four under for a share of 16th, his first top-20 finish since the Masters, while Sweden’s Daniel Chopra closed with a 71 to finish at three under in a tie for 20th.

England’s Brian Davis and Martin Laird of Scotland posted a final-round 75 and 74 respectively, both men finishing on 11 over par for the tournament.