Nigeria's Online Blog

The birdie putt on the final hole to win. The sweeping fist pump. The red shirt.

It all looked so familiar Sunday afternoon in the Chevron World Challenge, where Tiger Woods ended a drought that once would have seemed inconceivable. He went 749 days and 26 tournaments without winning as he tried to repair his image, his personal life and a golf game that used to be the best in the world.

When the final birdie putt from 6 feet disappeared into the cup, Woods swept his arm across the air, yelled through the din of the gallery and slammed his fist in a celebration that was a long time coming.

He birdied the last two holes for a 3-under 69 and won against an 18-man field at Sherwood Country Club. It was a two-man race against former Masters champion Zach Johnson over the final hour. Even so, winning is all that ever mattered to Woods — now perhaps more than ever before.

"Any different?" Woods asked about his win. "It feels great. Kind of hard for me to elaborate beyond that. I know it's been awhile, but for some reason, it feels like it hasn't. As far as making the putt and the feeling afterward, I think I was screaming something. But it was just that I won the golf tournament. I pulled it off with one down, two to go.

"To go birdie-birdie is as good as it gets."

The last time Woods won was Nov. 15, 2009, at the Australian Masters for his 82nd title worldwide, and his seventh win that year, back when winning at least looked routine for him. Twelve days later, Woods crashed his car into a fire hydrant outside his Florida home, and stunning revelations of extramarital affairs soon emerged. It cost him his impeccable image, his marriage and four major sponsors.

He has added three sponsors in the last five months. He showed signs of coming back with nine solid rounds in the wind in Australia, finishing third at the Australian Open and delivering the clinching point for the Americans in the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne.

It wasn't clear if Woods was elated or relieved, whether he felt satisfied or vindicated.

It didn't really matter to him.

"It just feels awesome, whatever it is," he said.

A two-shot lead on the back nine had turned into a one-shot deficit as Woods faced a 15-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole. He thought Johnson's birdie putt was going in until it stayed just high of the hole. Woods adjusted his line ever so slightly and drained the putt to pull even going to the 18th.

From 158 yards in the middle of the fairway, Woods hit 9-iron that landed on the slope and rolled down to easy birdie range.

If this win felt different than the last one, Woods wasn't saying.

"They all feel good," he said. "They're not easy. People don't realize how hard it is to win golf tournaments. I've gone on streaks where I've won golf tournaments in a row, but still ... I don't think I've taken it for granted. And I know because of how hard it is."

Johnson had done just about everything right on the back nine — a tough birdie putt on the 13th to tie for the lead, a spectacular pitch from the putting surface, over a ridge to 4 feet to escape with par, and a 12-foot birdie on the 16th to take the lead.

He had a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th that never had a chance, and stood to the side watching a familiar sight — Woods making clutch shots at the end of a tournament to win.

Tiger Woods, who spent a record 623 weeks as golf's number one between 1997 and 2010, has dropped out of the world's top 50 for the first time in 15 years after the latest rankings were released on Monday.
Woods, 35, is placed 51st having not won a tournament since the Australian Masters in November 2009.
The 14-time major winner first broke into the top 50 in October 1996 and remained there for 778 weeks before a persistent knee injury affected his appearances.
His form also suffered when revelations regarding his personal life in late 2009 led to a hiatus from the game as well as a divorce from his wife Elin Nordegren.

In a bid to arrest the decline Woods hired Joe LaCava as his new caddy in September following a split from former bag-man Steve Williams, the New Zealander who had been with Woods for 13 of his 14 major wins.
Woods is due to return to action at the Frys.com Open in northern California this week having not played since the PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club in August, where he missed the cut after carding 77 and 73 for the opening two rounds.
Despite his slump, Fred Couples selected Woods as one of his captain's pick for the upcoming Presidents Cup match between the U.S. and an international team in November.

Briton Luke Donald retains his position as world number one, ahead of compatriots Lee Westwood and 2011 U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy in second and third respectively.

Steve Stricker is the top-ranked American in fourth, with Dustin Johnson in fifth and Germany's Martin Kaymer in sixth.
South Korean-born American Kevin Na has moved up to 62nd in the rankings after claiming his first US PGA Tour title as he won the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas.
Na, who lives near the course, snapped a 210 tournament winless streak after carding a final round 65 to finish two shots ahead of Nick Watney to snatch the $756,000 top prize.

ATHENS (Reuters) - Skoda Xanthi's Nigerian international Olubayo Adefemi has died in a car accident, Greek police said on Monday.

The 25-year-old defender lost control of his car on the Egnatia motorway while driving from Xanthi to Salonika in the Kavala region of Northern Greece.

The former Rapid Bucharest player was on his way to finalise details of his wedding when the accident happened, police said.

Adefemi signed for Xanthi last summer and made 24 appearances for the club, scoring twice. He has also played three times for Nigeria.

"The Super League and the entire Greek football family would like to express its deepest condolences and sympathy for the family of Olubayo Adefemi who died tragically in a car accident," league organisers said in a statement on Monday.

Liverpool continued their improvement under manager Kenny Dalglish with a superb 1-0 Premier League win at Chelsea, making it a debut to forget for striker Fernando Torres against his former club.

Torres joined champions Chelsea from Liverpool for a British record transfer fee of $80m last Monday and fate decreed that he would make his debut against his former club.

But, playing alongside Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka in a three-pronged strike-force, the Spanish international had a debut to forget -- missing two good chances to open his account for his new club before eventually being substituted by manager Carlo Ancelotti in the second half.

Torres: I couldn't wait for Liverpool revival

Chelsea had shown improved form in recent weeks, following a dismal run that had seen them slip away from title contention.

And they were handed futher impetus to improve their league position with leaders Manchester United and second-placed Arsenal both dropping points on Saturday.

But Chelsea proved no match for a disciplined and determined Liverpool side, who have now won four matches in a row under Dalgish, keeping a clean sheet on each occasion.

The only goal of an absorbing match came in the 69th minute when in-form Portuguese midfielder Raul Meireles took advantage of hesitancy in the home defense to rifle home Steven Gerrard's teasing ball from the right.

It was Meireles' fourth goal in five matches and lifts Liverpool up to sixth place, just six points off a Champions League place.

Chelsea's seventh defeat leaves them fourth, ahead of Tottenham on goal difference, but still 10 points behind Manchester United with just 13 games left.

Meanwhile, in the day's other match, Birmingham City moved out of the bottom three after a vital 1-0 win at West Ham, who now prop up the table after this defeat.

Nikola Zigic headed home Sebatian Larsson's left-wing free-kick to secure the points for the visitors, as Birmingham followed up their recent League Cup semifinal win over West Ham with another victory over the east London side.

West Ham are on 24 points, level with Wolverhampton but with an inferior goal difference. Wigan are the other side in the bottom three, two points better off in 18th position.

There has been a twist in the death of former Eagles' defender, Uche Okafor as the Federal Investigation Bureau (FBI) claimed in a report yesterday that the player was murdered.

Uche was found hanging at his Dallas, Texas home earlier this month and a preliminary report by the Dallas police ruled that the easy-going defender hanged himself. But his family, friends and the Nigerian community in America rejected the suicide claims as they suspected foul play.

The FBI stepped into the controversy last week after protests from the family members who even alleged racism for the shoddy investigation over the death of the player. And the latest findings have confirmed the suspicion of murder held by many of the former Eagles' admirers. The FBI report however, did not state who killed Uche Okafor or why his life was terminated.

This piece of information from the USA, will interest the Nigerian government. The foreign affairs Minister, Odein Ajumogobia declared only on Monday that Nigeria was awaiting the result of the FBI report, before the country could take necessary action.

A source close to the family disclosed that the latest twist in the death of the player was quite a relief to his tribesmen who are holding on to an ancient myth that it was a taboo for an Ibo man to take his own life.

Uche Okafor's Eagles colleagues and indeed Nigerians also struggled to come to terms with the death of the player who was comfortably living with his wife and daughter. He was into business and also into football commentary with ESPN sports.

It was gathered that the corpse of the departed player will be flown in for burial next month.