Woods takes playoff after Cink misses 8-foot putt to win

AKRON, Ohio — Tiger Woods won the Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday on the fourth playoff hole. Stewart Cink lost it on the third.

Woods committed an unpardonable sin in his eyes by leaving a par putt five inches short at No. 18, the third extra hole. His ball was in for bogey, and Cink was eight feet away from capturing his second title at Firestone Country Club.

"I figured the way Stewie had been putting all day the tournament was probably over," Woods said.

Cink had regained his stroke with birdies at Nos. 16 and 17 in regulation to tie Woods. But then a bit of history crept into his brain, how a putt on this same line a year ago had snapped off sharply left.

With that in mind, he picked a line that had "a ball too much break." His attempt slipped by the right edge and rolled two feet past.

"I over-respected it a little bit too much," Cink said. "That was my real chance right there."

Woods' opponents know that the world's No. 1 golfer doesn't give out more than one chance to beat him.

So no one watching in the rain was surprised when Woods stuck an 8-iron from 166 yards to eight feet on the next hole, No. 17, and made the birdie he needed to win.

Cink had a putt of just less than eight feet to get up and down from a bunker fronting the green that he never got to strike.

Woods said he was thinking, "Just end this thing right now. He's not going to miss two of those in a row."

On the 10th anniversary of the day he turned pro, Woods captured his fifth victory at Firestone Country Club and took home $1.3 million in the $7.5 million World Golf Championships event. He recorded his fourth consecutive victory, two away from his career record.

Woods ran his total to 52 victories on the PGA Tour. He boosted his tour playoff record to 10-1, including 2-0 at Firestone. But Woods knew he was lucky just to get to extra holes.

At the turn, he trailed Jim Furyk and England's Paul Casey by two strokes. He rallied with birdies of 10, 35 and 22 feet at Nos. 10, 12 and 13 to build a three-shot lead on Furyk, but he missed a par putt at No. 16 to fall to 10 under.

Woods admitted the stress — the approach shot at No. 9 in the second round that went over the clubhouse roof, four consecutive bogeys in the third round, then a playoff — got to him.

"My hairline used to be farther up. Days like today you understand why," Woods said. "It's doing the moon walk."

Furyk (68, 9 under) finished alone in third, his fifth top-10 finish here since 1999. Casey (71), Davis Love III (71), Lucas Glover (69) and Argentina's Angel Cabrera, who tied Arron Oberholser with the day's best round of 65, tied for fourth at 7 under.

Woods, Cink and Furyk headed to the Cleveland airport to join the rest of their U.S. Ryder Cup team for a charter flight to Ireland, where they plan to spend the next two days practicing at The K Club.

Woods and Phil Mickelson, the top two players in the world, rearranged their schedule to make the trip. Asked if that sent a strong message to their 10 teammates, captain Tom Lehman replied, "It sends a strong message to the other team."

When the Americans return Wednesday, Woods will go for a fifth consecutive victory when he plays the Deutsche Bank Championship outside Boston. He already has won six of his 13 starts on the PGA Tour this year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.