Associated Press
Sunday, November 12

SOTOGRANDE, Spain -- Clinging to a two-stroke lead, Mike Weir climbed the crest of the 17th fairway just in time to watch another horror show unfold at Valderrama.

	Tiger Woods dropped a ball after going in the water on No. 17 for the third time in four days.

There was a grim-faced Tiger Woods, stomping away from the small pond that not only swallowed up another shot, but also his chances of becoming the first player in 50 years to win 10 times on the PGA Tour.

Moments earlier, Nick Price was only one shot out of the lead until he was spooked into hitting two balls into the water.

Weir made sure he was only a spectator.

With a deft par save from behind the green, Weir coasted home for a 3-under 69 and won the American Express Championship on Sunday, turning back Woods and a host of others to earn the $1 million prize.

"It's a huge win, a world championship," Weir said. "With the quality of the field, that's what makes it so special. Any time Tiger plays in the tournament you win, it makes you feel great because he's far and away the best player in the game right now."

Weir was the best player at Valderrama. He hit 32 consecutive greens on the weekend to make up an eight-stroke deficit and win his first World Golf Championships event.

The left-hander finished at 11-under 277 and was two strokes clear of Lee Westwood, who was lucky to make bogey on the par-5 17th and also walked away a winner.

Westwood earned $500,000 for finishing second, enough to move ahead of his good friend Darren Clarke on the European Tour money list. Westwood claimed the Order of Merit, ending the amazing seven-year reign of Colin Montgomerie.

"It's more emotional than I have ever been," said Westwood, who finished $346,000 ahead of Clarke, plus a British pound from a bet they made with each other in August. "It was a very, very long day out there."

It was a nightmare for Woods.

He was trying to become golf's first $10 million man, and the first player since Sam Snead in 1950 to win at least 10 times in one season. Instead, he started a new streak: For the third week in a row, he was within two shots of the lead and failed to win.

Woods made a nice up-and-down for double-bogey on the 17th, and holed a 6-foot bogey putt on the 18th for a 72, stretching his streak of rounds at par or better to 51 .

Small consolation.

He twice had to restrain himself from barking at kids who wanted his autograph, and he slammed his foot into the his travel bag as he was changing to leave Valderrama Golf Club, a quirky course that Woods didn't like even when he won last year.

Asked if he felt good about not having to return to Valderrama next year, Woods smiled and said, "We're not going to come back ever again."

Duffy Waldorf was the top American, making par on the 17th and closing with a 69 to finish at 280, tied with Vijay Singh (68).

Sergio Garcia had a 64 on a day when the tricky winds took a day off. He wound up in the group at 281 that included Woods, Price (72) and Padraig Harrington (70).

Hidemichi Tanaka, who had a one-stroke lead over Weir to start the final round, stumbled to a 77.

Five players had at least a share of the lead at some point Sunday, including Woods with an 8-foot eagle putt on the par-5 fourth.

Weir, who tries to pattern his swing after Ben Hogan, had Hogan-like precision from the start. After fixing his posture late Friday, when he was eight strokes back, Weir was deadly accurate on a course that requires nothing less.

He took the outright lead with a 4-foot birdie putt on No. 8, and only a half-dozen birdie putts that lipped out allowed for some drama on the back nine.

That, and the 17th.

Weir's lead was down to one stroke over Price and two over Woods when he arrived at the 17th tee and heard nothing but groans over the hill.

Price laid up, but chunked his approach into the water. He took a drop, then hit his fifth shot so fat that it trickled into the front of the pond. Price took 8, and after a bogey on the 18th, he stormed away from Valderrama without comment.

Woods was in trouble from the start, hitting his tee shot into the trees on the right. He chipped out short of the fairway into the rough and had to lay up, but still looked like he might get a par when his approach landed about a foot behind the pin.

But it spun back just enough to pick up speed and catch the shaved slope leading into the pond.

"It's not a very well-designed hole," Woods said. "If you just walk around the bank, look how many balls are in the water."

Weir never looked at a leaderboard until he got to the 17th, and with a two-shot lead -- and seeing the woes of Woods -- he decided to lay up. His third shot went over the back of the green, but his chip nearly went in and he had his par.

"The 17th hole is a very difficult hole, a controversial hole," Weir said. "But it adds to the flavor of this event and this golf course."

It was Weir's second PGA victory, but much more significant than winning the Air Canada Championship last year in Vancouver. Along with his sound play in the Presidents Cup, Weir continues to emerge as one of the top players.

"Three years ago, I was playing when $100,000 Canadian was the total purse," he said. "To win $1 million is far and above what I ever dreamed."