The Daily Wrap-up, Rd. 4: THE PLAYERS
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Henrik Stenson was famous for reasons he never imagined.
Two months ago, he was best known as the Swede who stripped down to nothing but his underwear and a golf glove while playing from a water hazard at Doral. Out of curiosity, he searched the Internet and found 143 articles, more news than he ever got for his game.
"I guess I got as much attention off that thing as from my results the last 10 years," he said.
His golf was all the rage Sunday at THE PLAYERS Championship.
With a final round that was close to perfect, Stenson was the only player to keep bogeys off his card on his way to a 6-under 66 that gave him a four-shot victory, the 10th title of his career -- second on TOUR -- and by far his biggest.
"This is obviously going to be the latest thing on the resumé," Stenson said.
Trailing by five shots on the treacherous TPC Sawgrass, he took advantage of a swift and shocking collapse by Alex Cejka, never had to worry about Tiger Woods and blew away everyone else in firm, fast conditions rarely seen this side of a major.
"I was thinking this, that if I could finish in front of Tiger, that might be good enough," said Ian Poulter, who shot a 70 to finish second and earn 330 FedExCup points. "But I wasn't expecting someone to go out there and shoot 66."
The sun-baked gallery was curious how Cejka would fare with a five-shot lead playing in the final group with Woods. Four holes and a little more than an hour into the final round, the lead was gone. Cejka shot 42 on the front and wound up with a 79.
Focus quickly shifted to Woods, and whether he could rally to win from five shots behind as he did at Bay Hill. But not this time. Woods missed three fairways that led to bogeys on the front nine and trailed by as many as eight shots on the back nine.
"When you're playing a golf course like this, and you don't have it, and the greens are this fast and this hard, you can shoot some pretty high numbers," he said.
Woods managed a 73 to finish eighth, his first top 10 at THE PLAYERS since he won in 2001, and his 16th consecutive top 10 in stroke-play events worldwide.
• To read the remainder of this story, click here.
MEMORABLE PLAYERS VICTORY CHANGES STENSON'S IMAGE
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Ingemar Stenson played hockey in his youth, as most Swedes do, and he turned to soccer and handball as an adult.
When a neighbor encouraged his 8-year-old son, Henrik, to start playing golf, though, the patriarch of the clan had no choice but to join him.
"I had to be at the course every night," Ingemar recalled with a shrug of his shoulders. "He didn't want to go home. Just one more bucket, he said, one more bucket. So I bought some clubs and then I understood how difficult the game was."
• To read the remainder of this story, click here.
TIGER'S GAME: IT AIN'T BROKE AND DON'T NEED TO BE FIXED
By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM Site Producer
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- What's wrong with Tiger Woods? That's the question that's going to be asked until he wins his next tournament, or at least stops hitting shots that elicit certain non-PG reactions. The answer to that question? Nothing.
That might sound apologetic, but Woods was only two shots off the lead halfway through the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship with a Band-Aid swing that the stitches fell out of early on. Woods isn't about top 10s, but, well, he did finish in the top 10, and a lot of other guys would gladly take that.
• To read the remainder of this story, click here.
CRAZY SUNDAY AT SAWGRASS ENDS WITH DESERVING CHAMP
By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- When was the last time Tiger Woods -- playing in the last group -- was an afterthought?
After nine holes. OK. Ten.
And his signature moment? We'd love to say it was just about stiffing it at 17 -- he missed the putt -- but, honestly? It was that face he made after a birdie at 16. A raspberry. Complete with tongue sticking out, head shake and geez-louise on his face.
He wanted fairways and his clubs gave him spinners to the right. No matter where he aimed. He'd been working miracles all week, but Sunday? It all went poof.
• To read the remainder of this story, click here.
| Other notable finishers at THE PLAYERS Championship | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sunday's Best |
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The 523-yard par-5 16th hole was easiest with a Sunday scoring average of 4.614.
The 237-yard par-3 8th hole was toughest with a Sunday scoring average of 3.400.
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Michael Letzig holed out from 139 yards for eagle on the par-4 15th hole during the final round of the 2009 PLAYERS Championship. Letzig tied for 45th. 
PLAYERS champion Henrik Stenson brought TPC Sawgrass to its knees Sunday with a flawless, bogey-free 6-under 66 for his second TOUR title. | QUOTE OF THE DAY | ||||||||||
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INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
PGA TOUR Network correspondent Fred Albers offers these observations from Sunday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146/SIRIUS 209 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
Henrik Stenson played close to a perfect round of golf in winning THE PLAYERS with a 6-under 66 in the final round to finish 12 under, and he used a peculiar pre-shot routine. Stenson turned his club upside down then swung with one hand. He says he did it last fall in winning and just started doing it again on Sunday because it helps him feel the correct swing plane. Apparently, it works.
Robert Allenby honored is mother this year by wearing a pink shirt on Sunday. He lost his mom in January, and Sunday was the first Mother's Day without her. Allenby finished with a final-round 71 to tie for 14th, but as he explained, his mother was always proud of him no matter the final score.
Jonathan Byrd had a bad day at the office. His final-round 78 dropped Byrd from second place to 37th. However, as he left the golf course, his son Jackson and wife Amanda were there to greet him with a smile. In fact, little Jackson gave his Dad a flower he had picked. Byrd carefully placed the wilted rose in his pocket and left the course smiling.
FINAL-ROUND NOTEBOOK: THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP
By John Bush, PGA TOUR Staff
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Henrik Stenson, 68-69-73-66--276 (-12), in his 44th career PGA TOUR start, posted the only bogey-free round on Sunday with a 6-under 66 to capture THE PLAYERS Championship by four strokes over Ian Poulter (70). At 12-under 276, Stenson steps into the winner's circle for the second time on the PGA TOUR (2007 World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship).
• Stenson's win comes in his fourth start at THE PLAYERS (tied for third in 2006, tied for 23rd in 2007 and tied for 10th in 2008). He has now made the cut in all five starts on TOUR this season, including a previous season-best tie for third at the Shell Houston Open.
• International players have now won five of the last eight titles at THE PLAYERS, including Stenson (2009), Sergio Garcia (2008), Stephen Ames (2006), Adam Scott (2004) and Craig Perks (2002). Stenson is the ninth international player to win the tournament (10 overall victories), but the first from Sweden. He is also just the third European-born player to win THE PLAYERS, joining Garcia (2008) and Sandy Lyle (1987).
• Stenson is just the second of the last five winners of THE PLAYERS who has failed to lead or tie for the lead in greens in regulation (tied for 12th/49 of 72) and driving accuracy (tied for 11th/41 of 56). Garcia (2008), Stephen Ames (2006) and Fred Funk (2005) all ranked either first or tied for first in both greens in regulation and driving accuracy when they won.
• Tiger Woods, 71-69-70-73--283 (-5), finished eighth, his best outing at THE PLAYERS since he won in 2001. He now has four top-10 finishes at the tournament (tie for 10th in 1999, second in 2000, won in 2001, 8-2009).
• To read more notes from the final round, click here.
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