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AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
MEDINAH (US), AUG 16: Tiger Woods edged Sergio Garcia to win the 81st PGA Championship as the field's two youngest players staged one of the most dramatic back-nine duels in major tournament history. Woods owned a five-stroke lead with seven holes to play yesterday but hung on for a one-stroke victory over the 19-year-old Spaniard, denying Garcia's bid to become the youngest major champion in 131 years.
``A five-shot lead can disappear pretty quickly. I made a few mistakes and that's what happened,'' Woods said. ``Even though I lost four shots in two holes, I still had the lead. That's what I focused on. He has better momentum than I do. But he's still chasing me.''
With fans cheering Garcia and heckling Woods, the 23-year-old American fired a final-round par-72 at Medinah Country Club to finish at 11-under-par 277 and win his second major title, the first being the 1997 Masters. Neither the second-longest course in major history, at 7,401 yards, nor the toughest field in major golf history with anunprecedented 92 of the world's 100 top-ranked players could compete with Woods and Garcia.
Woods won $630,000 (about Rs 2.7 crore) and the Wanamaker Trophy and reclaimed the world number one ranking from David Duval.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
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