After Tiger Woods' course-record matching round of 61 on Friday, the rest of the field was playing for second place on the weekend at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Tiger went to sleep with a 36-hole lead of seven shots, and he cruised through the final two rounds to keep that margin.
The runaway win is made all the more impressive by the fact that 48 of the top 50 players in the world were in attendance at Firestone. The no-cut limited field WGC events always have some of the most loaded tee sheets, with world-class talent in almost every pairing. But Woods removed all doubt by Friday night, while big names like Keegan Bradley, Luke Donald, Jason Dufner and Henrik Stenson battled for second place and worked on their game for Oak Hill next week.
In the end, it was Bradley and Stenson who came in the distant second at eight-under. Bradley was the defending champ at this event, but he's had a spotty season so the solid showing will be encouraging heading into the PGA Championship. The former PGA winner will also be paired with Woods in the first two rounds next week. Stenson continued his strong 2013 season, which featured a good showing at The Players and a runner-up last month at the British Open. He should absolutely be a factor on the leaderboard next week at the season's final major.
While Tiger made Firestone look like a chip-and-putt at times, the South Course certainly wasn't enjoyable for all the players in the 73-man field. Daniel Popovic, an Aussie, finished an amazing 34-over -- 49 (!) shots back of the winner. Here are the full results from top to bottom:
Place | Player | Score |
1 | Tiger Woods | -15 |
T2 | Keegan Bradley | -8 |
T2 | Henrik Stenson | -8 |
T4 | Zach Johnson | -6 |
T4 | Miguel A. Jimenez | -6 |
T4 | Jason Dufner | -6 |
T7 | Bill Haas | -5 |
T7 | Chris Wood | -5 |
T9 | Martin Kaymer | -4 |
T9 | Jim Furyk | -4 |
T9 | Richard Sterne | -4 |
T9 | Luke Donald | -4 |
13 | Steve Stricker | -3 |
T14 | Webb Simpson | -2 |
T14 | Harris English | -2 |
T14 | Adam Scott | -2 |
T17 | Jamie Donaldson | -1 |
T17 | Justin Rose | -1 |
T19 | Ian Poulter | E |
T19 | John Merrick | E |
T21 | Michael Thompson | 1 |
T21 | Charl Schwartzel | 1 |
T21 | Bo Van Pelt | 1 |
T21 | Hideki Matsuyama | 1 |
T21 | Phil Mickelson | 1 |
T21 | Rickie Fowler | 1 |
T27 | Russell Henley | 2 |
T27 | Paul Casey | 2 |
T27 | Paul Lawrie | 2 |
T27 | Matt Kuchar | 2 |
T27 | Rory McIlroy | 2 |
T27 | Bubba Watson | 2 |
T33 | Dustin Johnson | 3 |
T33 | Boo Weekley | 3 |
T33 | Brandt Snedeker | 3 |
T33 | Peter Hanson | 3 |
T33 | Ryan Moore | 3 |
T38 | Gonzalo Fdez-Castano | 4 |
T38 | Angel Cabrera | 4 |
T40 | Sergio Garcia | 5 |
T40 | Graeme McDowell | 5 |
T40 | Lee Westwood | 5 |
T40 | Kiradech Aphibarnrat | 5 |
T44 | Billy Horschel | 6 |
T44 | Stephen Gallacher | 6 |
T44 | Nick Watney | 6 |
T44 | Francesco Molinari | 6 |
T48 | Martin Laird | 7 |
T48 | Shane Lowry | 7 |
T48 | Richie Ramsay | 7 |
T48 | Thorbjorn Olesen | 7 |
T48 | Ernie Els | 7 |
T53 | Jason Day | 8 |
T53 | David Lynn | 8 |
T53 | Sang-Moon Bae | 8 |
T53 | Matteo Manassero | 8 |
T57 | Derek Ernst | 9 |
T57 | Nicolas Colsaerts | 9 |
T59 | Kevin Streelman | 10 |
T59 | Scott Piercy | 10 |
T59 | Jonas Blixt | 10 |
T59 | D.A. Points | 10 |
T63 | Brett Rumford | 12 |
T63 | Brian Gay | 12 |
T65 | Tommy Gainey | 13 |
T65 | Mikko Ilonen | 13 |
T65 | Satoshi Kodaira | 13 |
T65 | Ken Duke | 13 |
T65 | Branden Grace | 13 |
70 | Carl Pettersson | 15 |
71 | Toru Taniguchi | 20 |
72 | Jaco Van Zyl | 25 |
73 | Daniel Popovic | 34 |
More golf from SB Nation:
• Tiger Woods dominates for 79th career win
• Tiger 'not bummed' about missing on round of 59
• Leaderboard updates and coverage from the week at Firestone
• PGA sets tee times, pairings for season's final major
• Woods critiques PGA Championship greens at Oak Hill
• Gary Player advises Rory McIlroy on love, finding the 'right wife' to get golf game back | Rory responds