Woods coasts to 38th career win

Published 12:00 am Monday, July 7, 2003

LEMONT, Ill. (AP) - Even Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer couldn't match this.

Tiger Woods cruised to victory Sunday in the 100th Western Open, his 38th career victory on the PGA Tour and fourth of the season. It marks his fifth straight year with at least four victories, a feat no one else has managed.

And this is a guy who some say is in a slump?

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Hogan, Palmer, Tom Watson and Lloyd Mangrum had four straight years with four or more victories.

The victory also made Woods the fifth three-time winner at the Western, the oldest stop on the PGA Tour. Hogan, Nicklaus and Palmer each won the Western twice.

The gaudy numbers don't stop there. Woods shot a 69 Sunday, giving him 21-under 267 for the tournament. That matches the tournament record set in 2001 by Scott Hoch.

Woods missed an 11-footer on the 18th that would have given him the record on his own. The crowd cheered when he putted out, but he still looked a little subdued.

Woods led the entire tournament, the first wire-to-wire winner at the Western since Nick Price in 1993. It's the fifth wire-to-wire victory in Woods' career.