They were paired again in the final round at the Bridgestone Invitational, and Sabbatini said it would be a rubber match. Woods beat him at Wachovia, but Sabbatini said he outscored him in the final round of the 1996 NCAA Championship, where Woods had an eight-shot lead going into the last round and won the title by three shots in his last year at Stanford.

At Firestone, Woods turned a one-shot deficit into a seven-shot lead at the turn and won by eight.

His withdraw drew almost as much attention as Woods’ seven-shot victory, with Couples sounding off the loudest. He was told that Sabbatini’s agent attributed the early departure to shin splints.

“Of course, he did,” Couples said. “And Roger Clemens’ agent said he didn’t do steroids.”

Mark Calcavecchia wrote it off to “Rory being Rory.”

“I think I could have toughed out one more round,” Calcavecchia said. “I don’t think the fans missed him.”

Other players declined comment on the record, although it was clear they were perplexed the decision. British Open champion Padraig Harrington pondered the question before saying, “Is there anything you can say about it?”

After a long pause, he added, “I don’t think there is.” Then came another long pause. “It’s Christmas.”

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