Tiger Woods wins by four after

Harrington has triple bogey 8


FROM THE SCOTSMAN SPORTS WEBSITE
By Simon Lewis in Akron
Tiger Woods landed his seventh World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational title as Padraig Harrington's title bid met a watery end at Firestone Country Club, Akron Ohio on Sunday.
Woods, who won by four shots with a total of 12-under-par 268, had decimated the three-shot third-round lead held by Harrington in the first four holes of the final round before the Dubliner regained the advantage with five holes to play.
Disaster befell Harrington, though, as he zig-zagged his way down the 16th and then sent his fourth shot at the par-5 from greenside rough into the pond guarding the front of the green.
A triple-bogey 8 was the end result as Woods carded a birdie 4 on the way to a second consecutive 65 that sealed his 90th victory worldwide, his 70th US PGA Tour win, his fifth title of the year and the second in as many weeks after landing last Sunday's Buick Open.
Harrington explained that he was a little rushed playing the 16th, because he and Woods were being timed for slow play.
"I had an awkward shot and I probably rushed it a bit as well, and that was the end of that," he said. "It was a tough shot on a downslope. You've got to swing at it and hit it and I just did it poorly. I just didn't get under it enough and it came out strong."
Harrington had started his final round at ten under par with a three-stroke lead over the world No 1.
Having both parred the opening hole, Woods piled the pressure on Harrington at the par-5 second by sinking a 24ft eagle putt to move to nine under.Woods also birdied the fourth and Harrington's three-shot lead had evaporated.
Woods' putter was as hot as the weather and another birdie on the fifth gave him the lead.
Harrington was not without his chances and at the eighth his 14-foot birdie putt came up short by inches, but he handed the advantage to Woods at the ninth with his first significant error of the round.
Woods had hit his second shot to seven feet but Harrington, from the fairway, could only find a greenside bunker.The Irishman escaped from the sand to inside six feet but Woods holed for birdie to move into a two-shot lead at 12 under.
Harrington clawed a shot back at the 11th and was back on level terms when Woods bogeyed the par-four 13th.
There was more bad news for Woods at the next when he found rough at the back of a greenside bunker with his approach and then pitched his third shot into the sand. Harrington sank his par putt from 14 feet, celebrating with a fist pump while Woods chipped to five feet and took his bogey to fall to 10 under.
Both men parred the 15th but the tables dramatically turned back in Woods' favour at the par-five 16th.
The duo missed the fairway off the tee, Harrington to the right and Woods to the left. The world No 1 laid up in the fairway but the Irishman found a mound of rough at the front edge of a fairway bunker and sent his next shot through the green.
By that time Woods had produced some magic from 182 yards, his eight-iron approach stopping a foot from the hole.There was more woe for Harrington as his wedge out of the rough hopped onto the green and bounced into the water, leading to a triple-bogey 8.
Woods' birdie gave him a three-shot lead with two to play and he sealed the win in style with another birdie on the last.
Harrington posted a 72 to fall into a tie for second with Australia's Robert Allenby, who shot a 66 to finish at eight under.
Hunter Mahan and Masters champion Angel Cabrera finished on seven under in a tie for fourth while Open winner Stewart Cink and his fellow American Steve Stricker closed at six under alongside Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez.
England's Lee Westwood closed at five under for ninth place following a 65 that was his best round of the week and secured his fourth consecutive top-ten finish, including a tie for third at the Open.
"I just kept playing the way I had been playing all week," Westwood told reporters after finishing in ninth place."I hit a lot of good shots, hit it close a lot and was unlucky not to make a hole-in-one at the 12th, it just lipped out."
But the key was that I made a couple more putts, and that is what has been lacking this week," the 36-year-old Englishman said after totalling only 25 putts in the hot and humid conditions.
"The first day I came out and that was really where I let myself down this week. I made seven birdies that day and only shot one under par."
Oliver Wilson finished 11th at three under with a closing 71 while compatriot Ian Poulter was 15th. nFormer tournament winner Darren Clarke, the 2003 champion, shot a 69 to finish level par for the week, tied for 22nd in a group also including Sergio Garcia.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 280 (4x70)
Playes from US unless stated
268 Tiger Woods 68 70 65 65
272 Robert Allenby (Aus) 68 69 69 66, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 64 69 67 72
273 Hunter Mahan 68 69 70 66, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 70 68 68 67
274 Steve Stricker 67 69 71 67, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 68 72 66 68, Stewart Cink 69 69 68 68275 Lee Westwood (Eng) 69 71 70 65
276 Mike Weir (Can) 71 66 69 70277 Jerry Kelly 71 65 69 72, Kenny Perry 69 71 66 71, Chad Campbell 71 68 69 69, Oliver Wilson (Eng) 69 69 68 71
278 Zach Johnson 67 70 69 72, Woody Austin 69 68 69 72, Ian Poulter (Eng) 67 74 67 70, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 72 65 72 69
279 Lucas Glover 69 69 68 73, Davis Love III 72 66 73 68, Y E Yang (Kor) 72 72 69 66
280 Dustin Johnson 70 71 70 69, Pat Perez 70 72 66 72, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 73 71 68 68, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 68 72 70 70, David Toms 69 69 69 73, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 69 71 67 73, Darren Clarke (NIrl) 71 70 70 69
281 Vijay Singh (Fij) 70 73 67 71, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 71 67 71 72, Justin Rose (Eng) 75 68 69 69, Ernie Els (Rsa) 71 72 70 68, Tim Clark (Rsa) 66 68 73 74, Charles Howell III 71 72 68 70, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 69 72 70 70
282 Nick Watney 74 68 69 71, Anthony Kang 71 76 66 69, J B Holmes 70 72 65 75, Anthony Kim 72 68 71 71, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 66 70 72 74, Camilo Villegas (Col) 70 70 72 70, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 70 70 68 74
283 Ross Fisher (Eng) 70 71 70 72
284 Justin Leonard 70 71 70 73