WGC-American Express Championship

SAN FRANCISCO -- For all the prodigious drives hit at picturesque Harding Park Golf Course over the last four days, and there were many, the World Golf Championships-American Express Championship came down to a mere 3-foot putt on Sunday.

And when John Daly couldn't seal the deal from 36 inches on the second playoff hole, Tiger Woods “celebrated” his unprecedented 10th victory in this global series by covering his eyes with his right hand in a gesture of sheer disbelief. All the fans who had climbed those gnarly cypress trees and scrambled over fences to get close to the action stood in stunned silence, as well.

“I know Tiger didn’t want to win that way, and I sure didn’t want to lose like that,” Daly would later say.

The game’s No. 1 player and the man who is arguably No. 1 in the hearts of the blue-collar golf fan had finished regulation tied at 10-under-par 270. Woods stormed from behind to catch Daly with a 67 that was fueled by a string of three straight birdies that began at the 10th hole. Daly’s closing 69 was more than respectable but fell short after a three-putt bogey at the 17th hole brought extra holes into the equation.

“You feel so bad for J.D. to play that well,” Woods said. “We all had to come get him, and to have it end that way -- that's not how it should have ended. We should have been going to (the next playoff hole) to see who could make birdie. He just hit a bad putt at the wrong time.”

That putt came after two gutsy shots from Daly -- the first, a driver, as he tried to go the distance on the 336-yard par 4 and the second a beautiful wedge from between the trees than left him with a 14-footer for birdie. Woods was standing beside the green after having just seen his own 25-footer for a potential victory veer an inch right of the hole.

When Daly’s first putt kept rolling past the hole, the fans began to move to the par-3 17th in anticipation of more excitement to come. Instead, the tournament came to an abrupt halt when Daly’s ball stubbornly refused to fall.

“It shouldn't end like that,” Woods said. “We should have been playing 17. I was thinking I had 160 and I'm hitting a drawing 8-iron and kind of rehearsing what I have to do, and when he missed the putt, I just felt so bad because he played so solidly the entire week. He was up there every day. And to put yourself on top of that board, it's a lot of work.

“And then to hit this first of all, hitting driver there in a playoff was pretty impressive -- and then an unbelievable second shot through the trees. I mean, come on. He lands it there just over the bunker, perfect, pin high, ho hum, and then I felt like I had to make my putt to win the tournament. And I left it just short and I felt the tournament was probably over, that he'd probably just pour it in there, and he made a mistake.”

“I hit a great shot there,” Daly agreed. “And I really thought I was going to make that putt.”

Woods gave himself a shot, though, with some clutch putting of his own. First was a 9-footer to save par at the ninth hole, capping an inconsistent front nine of even par that left him three strokes off the lead. Next came the birdie barrage of 19, 10 and 4 feet on Nos. 10, 11 and 12.

“(That) got me back in the tournament,” Woods said. “J.D. wasn’t running away with it (and) I held it together.”

Woods offset a bogey from the rough at the 14th hole with a 3-footer for birdie at No. 16 to get within a stroke of Daly, who had moved to 11 under when he chipped in for birdie from across the green at the 13th hole. Daly needed to do that more often, as it turned out, because his putter betrayed him again on the 17th when he three-putted from 30 feet.

Woods, who was playing one group ahead of Daly, actually didn’t know the two were tied until he was about to hit his second shot on the 18th hole in regulation. Both he and Daly had birdie chances there from 19 and 17 feet, respectively, but neither putt fell so they went back to the same tee for the first hole of sudden death.

Two huge drives -- Daly’s went 357 yards and Woods’ traveled 346 -- could only produce pars, though, so it was off to the decisive 17th. When all was over, the champion saw only more validation for the swing changes he underwent two years ago.

“Obviously you saw I didn't really have any best stuff this week, but I still hung in there with my mind and putted beautifully and hit good shots when I really had to,” Woods said. “It was nice. You know, all the naysayers said that I was doing the wrong things. They can understand why now I made those changes.

“I've really worked hard to get to this point, to a point where I can compete. Each and every week I feel as if I just play my game, I should have a chance come the back nine, and that's where you want to get to.”

The victory was Woods’ sixth of the season and fourth in the seven-year history of the American Express Championship. With the victory, Woods increased his TOUR-leading earnings to more than $9.9 million -- and well within reach of Vijay Singh's single season record of $10,905,166 with two events remaining on his schedule.

Calgary's Stephen Ames shot a 69 and finished 10th, earning him $140,000. Mike Weir of Bright's Grove, Ont., made $77,000 for his 18th-place tie after shooting his own 69.