Woods wins again at Memorial

DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) -- Since winning at the Memorial Tournament a year ago, Tiger Woods has won 12 tournaments.

And he's not satisfied.

''I'm trying to get better. I'm trying to work on every facet of my game. I'm trying to improve to give myself chances in each and every tournament I play in,'' Woods said Monday after rolling to a five-shot victory in defending his title at the rain-delayed Memorial Tournament.

Ernie Els shot a 7-under 65 and never got closer than four strokes.

Woods' closing 70 left him at 19-under 269, five shots better than Els and Justin Leonard. It also left him a shot off Tom Lehman's tournament record.

Nelson wins Boone

Valley Classic

AUGUSTA, Mo. (AP) -- Even with 17 career victores, including three majors, and more than $8 million in earnings, Larry Nelson still hasn't reached all of his goals in golf.

''Realistically, I'd like to be the oldest guy who's ever won the PGA or U.S. Open,'' the 52-year-old Nelson said Sunday after winning the Boone Valley Classic by three shots over Tom Watson.

King wins again

CORNING, N.Y. (AP) -- Betsy King is too good to pass up a free shot at victory.

She got one of those freebies on Sunday during a sudden-death playoff in the Corning Classic with defending champion Kelli Kuehne and Vicki Goetze-Ackerman. And she cashed. After both challengers missed birdie putts on the second extra hole, King rolled in a 10-footer and walked off with her 33rd career victory and second this year.

''This has been a nice turnaround year for me,'' said the 44-year-old King, who had only three victories in the previous six years. ''I'm very happy. It was like a free shot to win.''

And she can thank Kuehne for it. Leading by two strokes with one hole to play, Kuehne faltered with a double-bogey on No. 18, setting up the sudden-death playoff with King and a somewhat startled Goetze-Ackerman. She had already begun doing interviews with the media, happily documenting her best finish since she started playing full-time on the LPGA Tour six years ago.

Then Kuehne's third shot on the fateful final hole of regulation landed in the deep rough to the right of the green, and when her chip left her 12 feet from the hole, she ended up two-putting for a double-bogey 6. Her collapse was nearly complete.

''I was just trying to play to make 5 on 18,'' said the 23-year-old Kuehne, who beat Rosie Jones by one stroke last year for her only LPGA victory. ''Unfortunately, my swing wasn't quite there for me. I struggled with my shot on 18 all week. I hit what I thought was the winning putt and missed. I'm terribly disappointed, but I believe in destiny. It was Betsy's time to win.''

You could have fooled King. Leading Kuehne by a stroke, King had hit her drive on the 304-yard, par-4 16th under a pine tree, and when her wedge shot flew over the green she had a few choice words for her club and settled for bogey. Moments later, Kuehne calmly sank a 20-foot putt for birdie and had the lead back.

''I hate to look like I'm choking,'' said King, who is 8-6 in playoffs in her 23-year career. ''At one point on 18, I said, 'Make par so you finish second.'

''I didn't think it was my day until she missed the green with her third shot (on 18),'' said King, who won $120,000 to add to her career-record total of over $6 million. ''That let everybody else into the ballgame.''

All three parred the first extra hole, the tricky 377-yard, par-4 18th. On the second, the 345-yard, par-4 No. 8, Kuehne's second shot to the elevated green nearly hit the pin but rolled about 30 feet past the hole, while Goetze-Ackerman put hers within birdie range, about 12 feet from the flag.

King, whose drive landed in the right rough, had to clear a tree with her second shot and did. Her ball landed on the green, glanced off Goetze-Ackerman's ball, and stopped even closer to the hole.

Kuehne missed her birdie try as the ball broke right 2 feet and Goetze-Ackerman rimmed her birdie attempt out to the moans and groans of the crowd. King then calmly hit hers, watching it break about 8 inches and roll straight into the cup.

''With three people in a playoff, you're not going to win with pars,'' said King, who joined Jones as the only two-time winners of the event.

Goetze-Ackerman, who had a final-round 67 to finish the 72 holes at 12-under 276, was disheartened but hardly dispirited.

''I would have loved to have won the playoff, but I'm very pleased. I thought my day was over,'' she said. ''I hung in there. I thought I made the putt on No. 8, but I didn't.''

It was the fourth playoff in the tournament's 22 years and first involving three players. Pat Hurst, who had a closing 69, could have made it a four-way playoff but bogeyed No. 18 when her second shot sailed over the green into the gallery. She finished alone at 11-under 277.

Kuehne started the day with a one-shot lead over King, and the two battled back and forth throughout the day.

A two-shot swing on the tough 412-yard, par-4 13th put King ahead by a stroke. Kuehne's drive had hit the right rough and she two-putted for bogey from 35 feet while King drained a 20-foot birdie putt to go in front.

Goetze-Ackerman, who began the day four shots off the lead, zoomed into contention with five birdies on the front nine, three in a row. Her 67 tied Joan Pitcock for the best round of the day.