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Flawless Woods in full control

US TOUR: PADRAIG HARRINGTON slipped down the leaderboard with a final round of two-over-par 73 as Tiger Woods cruised to a eight…

Mon Sept 14 2009 - 01:00

US TOUR:PADRAIG HARRINGTON slipped down the leaderboard with a final round of two-over-par 73 as Tiger Woods cruised to a eight-shots victory at the BMW Championship in Illinois yesterday.

A final round 68 gave Woods a 19-under-par total of 265 with Jim Furyk, after a 66, and Australian Marc Leishman, after a 69, sharing second place. Sean O’Hair was a shot further back on 10 under after also shooting a final round 66.

The world number one teed off with a seven-shot lead and he maintained that advantage throughout the day. Woods bogeyed the par-four fifth to drop to 15 under but birdies at seven and nine lifted him to 17 under at the turn. And he finished in style with an eagle three at the 15th.

In the short history of the FEdEx Cup, Woods missed the 2007 play-offs because of knee surgery, but in the other years, he has three wins, two runner-up finishes and a tie for 11th.

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Harrington is already sure of a place The Tour Championship in two weeks time, but the three-time major champion wont be in the top-five of the FedExCup standings when he arrives at East Lake.

Harrington birdied the first but dropped shots at the second and third in a first nine of 35.

His chances took a hit with a bogey at the 12th and a double bogey on the 13th. After an errant second shot at 13, Harrington had to take a drop and after reaching the green with his fourth shot, two-putted for a six from just inside 16 feet.

That dropped him to three over on the day and down the leaderboard a bit as a result. Harrington eventually finished seventh in the FedExCup standings.

That double-bogey, by the way, marks the 13th straight tournament, dating back to the Shell Houston Open, that Harrington has had a double-bogey, or worse, in an event.

England’s Luke Donald finished on four-under-par 280 but his countryman Ian Poulter had a nightmare start to his round, dropping six shots in his first seven holes before finally managing a birdie at the eighth on his way to a 75 and a one-under total of 283.

Camilo Villegas shot the low round of the day a 66, but it wasnt enough to move him into the top 30 of the FedExCup points and a chance to defend his title.