SAN DIEGO — Tiger Woods closed in on his 75th PGA Tour victory by stretching his lead to a commanding six shots with 11 holes remaining in the final round of the fog-delayed Farmers Insurance Open Sunday. The former world No. 1, a six-time winner of the PGA Tour event at Torrey Pines, birdied three of his first seven holes to move to 17-under overall when play was suspended for the day in fading light. Fellow American Nick Watney, winner here in 2009, was tied for second, after eight holes, with defending champion Brandt Snedeker, who had completed 13. Burly Canadian Brad Fritsch, a PGA Tour rookie at the age of 35, was a further two strokes back at nine-under after seven holes. However, Woods was in full command at one of his favorite venues in his bid to win a third different PGA Tour event for a seventh time. He has already recorded seven victories apiece at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the Arnold Palmer Invitational. His rivals are well aware of his stellar overall track record on the US circuit where he has gone on to win 49 times out of 53 when holding at least a share of the 54-hole lead, including 14 of 15 in the majors. LPGA creates global showdown event The world's top women's golfers will meet starting next year in an eight-nation biennial LPGA global match-play event worth $1.6 million. The International Crown will debut July 24-27 at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland, near Baltimore with the second edition to be staged in 2016 at the site of the 2009 Solheim Cup, Rich Harvest Farms near Chicago. Four-player squads from eight nations will compete with the winning side taking home $100,000 per player. “It's like preparing for the Olympics,” World No. 1 Yani Tseng of Taiwan said. “In Asia, we don't have a team event like this. This is a good opportunity for us to play for our countries. It's really going to be awesome.” The eight nations to compete in the inaugural event will be decided based upon the rankings of each nation's four top players after the season-ending LPGA Titleholders event in November. Actual rosters for the nations involved will be based upon the rankings at a date yet to be determined. The event will feature three days of four-ball matches with nations split into two brackets of four and round-robin play within brackets to decide which five nations will advance into Sunday singles. Four-ball points carry over into Sunday when each country will play a singles match against every other nation. Total points to determine the overall champion. Winged Foot to host 2020 US Open The US Open will be held at Winged Foot for the sixth time when the second major golf championship of the season is staged at the New York course in 2020. “We're thrilled to bring the US Open back to this outstanding club,” said United States Golf Association vice president Thomas J. O'Toole Jr in a news release Monday. “Winged Foot offers a spectacular setting in a dynamic market and has justifiably earned its reputation as one of the premier US Open venues in the nation.” — Agencies
