March 11, 2013
Ceci Ferrara
Sports Writer
Sports Insider
Tiger Woods is back on top.
Finishing 1-under 71, Woods won the Cadillac Championship at Doral on Sunday, nabbing his 17thWorld Gold Championship title. It was a dramatic turn from last year, when he withdrew from the tournament after 11 holes due to soreness in his left Achilles tendon. With 76 career tour wins, Woods is now just six victories short of the record 82 wins by Sam Snead. He finished two shots ahead of Steve Striker, while Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott all tied for third.
Striker, a friend of Woods’ and a golfer known to be an expert putter, helped him on the green last week, going over his putting posture for nearly an hour. The assistance definitely helped during the tournament, with Woods making 27 birdies, including two on Sunday. Woods thanked Stricker at the trophy presentation saying, “Thank you to Steve for the putting lesson. It was one of those weeks where I felt pretty good about how I was playing, made a few putts and got it rolling.” He thanked Stricker again on his Twitter account afterwards.
Woods is in good shape as the tour nears the Masters; this is the first time in five years that he’s had two wins before the tournament. “That’s how I know I can play,” he told the media after his win. “That’s the thing. To be able to bring it out a couple times so far this year and then be able to close and get the Ws on top of that — that’s nice. Any time I can win prior to Augusta, it always feels good.”
With the Masters less than a month away, Woods is definitely the favorite to win. But on Sunday, he refused to answer any questions about that possibility, content for the time being to just have his groove back.
Capitals
The Capitals (10-13-1) seemed to finally be turning their season around over the past two weeks, winning three straight and five out of their last six. But after sweeping at home, they were unable to keep the momentum going into the weekend, losing two straight to both the Islanders and Rangers over the weekend. After a 5-2 Saturday loss, the Caps hoped to regain some ground against the Rangers. But their woes against the New York teams continued Sunday afternoon, as the penalty-stricken team fell to the Rangers 4-1.
Outspoken star Alex Ovechkin had hoped to have a better game Sunday, after asking for some “respect” from the referees after being on the receiving end of what he felt were unfair calls on Saturday. Unfortunately, Ovechkin’s mishaps continued into Sunday, as he was involved in a play that led the Rangers first goal, and sat in a penalty box while they scored two more. The penalties added up for the Caps, who were unable to score after the first period.
Despite the two losses, the team seemed optimistic about their chances at a playoff berth. “We’ve put ourselves back into playoff contention,” right wing Troy Brouwer told reporters. “And with halfway left, if we continue to play the way we have been in the last 12 or 15 games or so, I think we’ll be in the playoff picture at the end.” Coach Adam Oates echoed those sentiments, saying while he thinks the team can do a lot better, “I think we’ve seen signs of what we could be if we do right. And obviously we got to figure out ways to improve.”
With 24 games left in the lockout-shortened season, the Caps had better hope to pick up ground fast. They’re playing back-to-back games against the Carolina Hurricanes (14-9-1) next, the first of which is at Verizon Center on Tuesday.
