Tiger cruises to 3-stroke Buick victory

GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP, Michigan – Tiger Woods shot a 69 Sunday to coast to a three-shot victory with a 20-under 268 at the Buick Open for the 69th PGA Tour title of his career.

He improved to 36-1 when he has the outright lead after 54 holes. Woods has four wins this season – doubling the total of his nearest competitors – in just 11 starts since returning from knee surgery.

“This one feels good,” he said.

Roland Thatcher (64) briefly shared the lead at 17 under and finished tied for second with Greg Chalmers (68) and John Senden (70).

Woods will play at the Bridgestone Invitational next before going to Hazeltine for the PGA Championship, his final chance to win a major this year.

He is set to compete in two straight tournaments going into a major for the first time in his career.

Woods moved into first place in the FedEx Cup standings and padded his lead on the money list with another $918,000 after winning his third Buick Open, tying Vijay Singh’s record total.

His career victory total trails Jack Nicklaus (73) and Sam Snead (82).

Woods reached victory No. 69 at the age of 33 years and seven months – almost seven years quicker than Nicklas and eight years sooner than Snead.

Dating to the 2006 British Open, he has won 21 of 39 starts on the PGA Tour.             (AP)