Tiger Woods wins Players Championship, 78th win in his career

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  May 12, 2013: Tiger Woods hits from the 18th fairway during the final round of The Players championship golf tournament at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Woods won The Players Championship.AP

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. –  Tiger Woods had the last word against Sergio Garcia by winning The Players Championship on Sunday.

Woods ended a weekend of verbal sparring with Garcia by doing what he does best -- closing out tournaments, even if he let this one turn into a tense duel over the final hour at the TPC Sawgrass. Tied with Garcia with two holes to play, Woods won by finding land on the last two holes for par to close with a 2-under 70.

If only it were that simple for the Spaniard.

Garcia was standing on the 17th tee shot, staring across the water to an island as Woods made his par. He took aim at the flag with his wedge and hung his head when he saw the ball splash down short of the green. Then, Garcia hit another one in the water on his way to a quadruple-bogey 7. He completed his stunning collapse by hitting his tee shot into the water on the 18th and making double bogey.

Woods was in the scoring trailer when he watched on TV as Swedish rookie David Lingmerth missed a long birdie putt that would have forced a playoff. It raced by the cup, and Lingmerth three-putted for bogey.

"How about that?" Woods said to his caddie, Joe LaCava as he gave him a hug.

Woods won The Players for the first time since 2001 and joined Fred Couples, Davis Love III and Steve Elkington as the only two-time winners at the TPC Sawgrass. It was his 78th career win on the PGA Tour, four short of the record held by Sam Snead.

Lingmerth closed with a 72 and finished two shots behind along with Kevin Streelman (67) and Jeff Maggert, who also was tied for the lead until finding the water on the 17th to make double bogey. The 49-year-old Maggert birdied the 18th for a 70.

Garcia took 13 shots to cover the final two holes -- 6-over par -- and tumbled into a tie for eighth.

Woods made this drama possible by hooking his tee shot into the water on the 14th hole and making a double bogey, dropping him into a four-way tie with Garcia, Maggert and Lingmerth. The final two holes came down to Garcia and Woods, most appropriate given their public sniping at each other this weekend.

It started Saturday when Garcia complained in a TV interview that his shot from the par-5 second fairway was disrupted by cheers from the crowd around Woods, who was some 50 yards away in the trees and fired them up by taking a fairway metal out of his bag. He said Woods should have been paying attention, and it became a war of the words the next two days.

"Not real surprising that he's complaining about something," Woods said.

"At least I'm true to myself," Garcia retorted. "I know what I'm doing, and he can do whatever he wants."

When they finished the storm-delayed third round Sunday morning, Garcia kept at it, saying that Woods is "not the nicest guy on tour."

Woods had the last laugh. He had the trophy.

Garcia, when asked if he would have changed anything about the flap with Woods, replied, "It sounds like I was the bad guy here. I was the victim."

The real villain was the infamous 17th hole, which knocked out Garcia and Maggert.

"When you've got water in front of the green, that's not a good time to be short of the green. You know, it was close," Maggert said. "What can I say? A wrong shot at the wrong time and you get penalized on this golf course."

It was at the 17th hole five years ago where Garcia won The Players Championship, when Paul Goydos hit into the water in a sudden-death playoff. This time, the island green got its revenge on him. Garcia hit a wedge and felt he caught it just a little bit thin, which is usually all it takes.

"That hole has been good to me for the most part," Garcia said. "Today, it wasn't. That's the way it is. That's the kind of hole it is. You've got to love it for what it is."

Woods finished on 13-under 275 and earned $1.71 million, pushing his season total to over $5.8 million in just seven tournaments. This is the 12th season he has won at least four times -- that used to be the standard of a great year before he joined the PGA Tour in 1996 -- and this was the quickest he has reached four wins in a year.

It also was the first time Woods has won on Mother's Day.

"Sorry, Mom," he said into the camera. "I think she might have had a heart attack. I was in control of the tournament, and I just hit the worst shot I could possibly hit."

Typical of Woods these days, there were questions about where he took the drop -- some 255 yards from the hole. NBC Sports analyst Johnny Miller suggested it was a "borderline" where he took the drop. But Mark Russell, vice president of competition for the PGA Tour, said there was nothing wrong with the drop. Woods conferred with Casey Wittenberg, who said there was "no doubt" that Woods took the drop in the right spot.

"He asked me exactly where it crossed," Wittenberg said. "I told him I thought it crossed on the corner of the bunker, right where he took his drop. And it's all good."

Woods wound up with a double bogey, and he nearly fell out of the lead on the 15th until he saved par with an 8-foot putt. He followed with another up-and-down from the bunker on the par-5 16th for birdie. Garcia, playing in the final group behind Woods, two-putted the 16th to regain a share of the lead and then walked over to the 17th tee where it ended with two swings.

Woods and Garcia played four tension-free holes Sunday morning to complete the third round, and they shook hands without words when they finished -- Woods with a 71, Garcia with a 72 to share the 54-hole lead with Lingmerth.

With a three-way tie, Garcia wound up in the final group because he was first to play at the start of the third round.

Garcia, however, continued to fuel the bad feelings between them.

He told Sky Sports, "I'm not going to lie, he's not my favorite guy to play with. He's not the nicest guy on tour." And then he told Golf Channel, "We don't enjoy each other's company. You don't need to be a rocket engineer to figure that out."

Woods downplayed the episode and said it didn't matter who joined him on the tee. "I'm tied for the lead, so I'm right there."

And that's where he usually wins. Woods now is 53-4 in his PGA Tour career when he has at least a share of the lead going into the final round.

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Ohio high school football players found guilty of raping 16-year-old girl

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Two Steubenville, Ohio, high school football players have been found guilty of raping a drunken 16-year-old girl after a party last August, a juvenile court judge ruled Sunday.

Judge Thomas Lipps said the teens, ages 17 and 16, attacked the girl at the alcohol-fueled party. They could be held in a juvenile jail until they turn 21.

Both teens broke down in tears after the verdict was read, and apologized to the victim and to the community. Both were emotional as they spoke, and the 16-year-old struggled at times to talk through his sobs.

The 17-year-old apologized for taking a photo of the girl that was posted online and fueled speculation over what happened that night.

The football players were charged with digitally penetrating the West Virginia girl, first in the backseat of a moving car after the alcohol-fueled party on Aug. 11, and then in the basement of a house. The 17-year-old was also found guilty on a charge of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material and was sentenced to an additional year in jail, to be served after his rape sentence is completed. The teens were also ordered to avoid contact with the victim until they're 21.

The case roiled the community amid allegations that more students should have been charged and led to questions about the influence of the local football team, a source of pride in a community of 18,000 that suffered massive job losses with the collapse of the steel industry. Their arms linked, protesters stood outside the courthouse Sunday morning awaiting the verdict, some wearing masks.

The trial opened last week as a contest between prosecutors determined to show the girl was so drunk she couldn't have been a willing participant that night, and defense attorneys soliciting testimony from witnesses that would indicate that the girl, though drunk, knew what she was doing.

The teenage girl testified Saturday that she could not recall what happened the night of the attack but remembered waking up naked in a strange house after drinking at a party. The girl said she recalled drinking, leaving the party holding hands with the 17-year-old and throwing up later. When she woke up, she said she discovered her phone, earrings, shoes, and underwear were missing, she testified.

"It was really scary," she said. "I honestly did not know what to think because I could not remember anything."

The girl said she believed she was assaulted when she later read text messages among friends and saw a photo of herself taken that night, along with a video that made fun of her and the alleged attack. She said she suspected she had been drugged because she couldn't explain being as intoxicated as defense witnesses have said she was.

"They treated her like a toy," said special prosecutor Marianne Hemmeter.

Evidence introduced at the trial included graphic text messages sent by numerous students after the night of the party, including by the accuser, containing provocative descriptions of sex acts and obscene language. Lawyers noted during the trial how texts have seemed to replace talking on the phone for contemporary teens. A computer forensic expert called by the state documented tens of thousands of texts found on 17 phones seized during the investigation.

The girl herself recalled being in a car later with the football players and asking them what happened.

"They kept telling me I was a hassle and they took care of me," she testified. "I thought I could trust him until I saw the pictures and video."

In questioning her account, defense attorneys went after her character and credibility. Two former friends of the girl testified that the accuser had a history of drinking heavily and was known to lie.

"The reality is, she drank, she has a reputation for telling lies," said lawyer Walter Madison, representing the 16-year-old.

The two girls testified they were angry at the accuser because she was drinking heavily at the party and rolling around on the floor. They said they tried unsuccessfully to get her to stop drinking.

The accuser said that she does not remember being photographed as she was carried by the football players, an image that stirred up outrage, first locally, then globally, as it spread online. Others have testified the photo was a joke and the girl was conscious when it was taken.

The photograph led to allegations that three other boys, two of them members of Steubenville High's celebrated Big Red team, saw something happening that night and didn't try to stop it but instead recorded it.

The three boys weren't charged, fueling months of online accusations of a cover-up to protect the team, which law enforcement authorities have vehemently denied.

Instead, the teens were granted immunity to testify, and their accounts helped incriminate the defendants. They said the girl was so drunk she didn't seem to know what was happening to her and confirmed she was digitally penetrated in a car and later on a basement floor.

Ohio's attorney general planned to announce later Sunday whether additional charges will be brought in the case, including against the three other boys.

The 17-year-old and 16-year-old were determined to be delinquent, the juvenile equivalent of guilty, Lipps ruled in the juvenile court trial without a jury.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Editors’ Note: The Associated Press named the minors charged due to the fact they have been identified in other news coverage and their names were used in open court. FoxNews.com will not name the defendants.

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