Anthony Kim strutted to the first tee sporting his white belt and flashy buckle, seemingly eager to start his Sunday showdown with tournament host and World No. 1 Tiger Woods.

Kim’s swagger didn’t last long. After an opening birdie, Kim wilted under Tiger’s glare as so many players have done before him, limping to a final-round 71 and disappointing fans who were longing for a reprise of the day’s earlier showdown, Roger Federer’s takedown of Andy Roddick in an epic five-set Wimbledon final.

Woods’ final-round 67 that included a critical birdie at 16 was good enough for a one-shot win over a charging Hunter Mahan and a four-shot cushion over Kim, who entered the final round tied with Woods at 10-under. Afterward, Tiger seized the moment on the 18th green, playing “greedy host” by presenting himself with the trophy and engaging in a brief mock interview. “So, Tiger, how did you play today?” Woods joked, as the fans rimming the 18th green roared their approval.

The win gives Woods a season trifecta of titles featuring high-profile hosts. In late March, Woods earned his first win since his knee surgery by winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Then, in June, Woods charged to a win in Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament with a final-round 65, as Jack looked on approvingly. That can’t be a coincidence, even though Woods says that he approaches every tournament the same. “No, it’s still the same, whether it’s my tournament, Jack’s, Arnold’s, Byron’s (Nelson). It really doesn’t matter. You go out there with the same intensity to win.”

Woods needed to call on that legendary intensity after Mahan’s epic 62 put him in the clubhouse at 12-under.
“I felt like if I shot something under par it would be good enough, but it wouldn’t have been,” said Woods, whose 20-foot birdie putt on 16 proved to be the difference.

The win was the capper on a spectacular week for Woods, who has carved an impressive niche on the schedule with the AT&T.

“I think overall the weather was perfect, you had obviously the 4th of July and everything kind of coming together with our pro-am with the guys who attended,” he said. “I got a chance to play with Tony Romo and Justin (Timberlake) came out and the Screaming Eagles came in and the Wounded Warriors hitting the tee shots. It was just off to a great start, and I think the buzz started from there.

“From then on, looking at the leaderboards we’ve had, we had some pretty good players up there at the top of the board. That just adds to it.”

Kim, who created much of the week’s buzz with his opening-round 62, took his medicine after a lackluster performance on Sunday.

“Well, I learned that if you have a birdie putt, you’d better make it, especially on the last day,” he said. “Tiger obviously wins for a reason. He makes the putts when he needs to. Unfortunately they didn’t drop for me today. They’ll drop.”

Surprisingly, this was Kim’s first experience playing with Tiger in any setting, much less with a tournament title on the line.

“Actually I’ve never played with him. That was the first time I’ve played with him in any round, practice round, tournament round, anything. I don’t really care what he’s doing. I mean, it’s about me staying focused on my game, and for the most part I did stay focused, I just didn’t get the ball in the hole.”

From D.C. to Philly

The tournament will be taking a hiatus from its D.C. home to spend a couple of years in Philadelphia, although it will return to Congressional CC in three years.

“We have to leave for a couple years and go to Philadelphia, which will be a great market, and on top of that, just an incredible golf course,” Woods said. “Aronimink is just a great golf course.
 
“I’ll be back here in a couple years to play the (2011) U.S. Open, but we’ll be back here in three years’ time.”

Mahan’s the Man

The stiffest challenge to Woods on Sunday didn’t come from his own pairing. While all eyes were fixed on the marquee final pairing, Hunter Mahan, playing several holes ahead of Tiger and Kim, went on an amazing birdie binge, coming home in 30 for a final-round 62, tying the course record at Congressional and posting a number that Woods had to labor to beat. Over his last three tournaments, Mahan has finished T6 at the U.S. Open, T4 at the Travelers Championship and second at the AT&T. He has yet to miss a cut in his 17 appearances this season. A win seems inevitable for the 29-year-old, and soon.  

“What Hunter did today was pretty impressive,” Woods said. “I certainly didn’t see that score out there. He went out there and put so much pressure on both AK and I. I think he was done when we were on 12, so six holes to go, and at the time I was tied for the lead. It was just like, you can go either way. You can win the tournament or you can lose the tournament from here. Just got to keep plodding along and hopefully maybe sneak one or two birdies coming in and get the title.”
Unlike Kim, at least Mahan made Tiger work for it.

Move Over, Jack

Woods joins Jack Nicklaus as the only players to host and win a PGA Tour event. Nicklaus won his own Memorial Tournament in 1977 and 1984. With his 68th career win, Woods also closes to within five wins of Jack’s career total of 73, although he still has work to do to catch Sam Snead’s career total of 82.

Brandt’s Back

Several weeks ago, I posed the question: What happened to Brandt Snedeker? I owe it to Brandt to provide the answer. Turns out that Snedeker has been battling a rib injury, but he finally seems to be getting healthy again. A 68-67 weekend left him tied for fifth with U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover and also earned him a spot in the British Open next week.