Tiger Woods holds up his Tour Championship trophy at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia, on Sunday after winning the tournament and the inaugural championshp. - Reuters
ATLANTA (AP):
FOUR VICTORIES in his last five starts is proof enough that Tiger Woods is more dominant than ever, especially considering he won those four tournaments by a combined 20 shots and shattered tournament scoring records in consecutive weeks.
More evidence came from his caddie as he waited for Woods to arrive for the final round of the U.S. Tour Championship.
"He hasn't hit a practice ball since the British Open," Steve Williams said. "I've been with him nearly 10 years now, and this is the best I've ever seen him hit the ball."
No practice? Not quite.
What he meant was that Woods has such command over his game that he stopped going to the practice range after his rounds since returning home from Carnoustie.
Woods confirmed as much when he left East Lake Club with his two trophies - one for the U.S. Tour Championship, and one for the FedEx Cup.
"Hey, there was no need to go," he said with a shrug and a smile.
Whether this is the best he has ever played is up for debate, but don't expect Woods to participate. He is always looking forward, always trying to figure out a way to get better.
That's what makes it so daunting for the guys trying to reach his level. They know they have to get better, and that's assuming Woods doesn't continue to improve himself.
So far, that hasn't happened.
Since his latest round of swing changes took root at the end of 2004, Woods has won 21 times on the U.S. PGA Tour. That's more than Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk combined over the past three years.
And the truly scary part is that Woods, at age 31, might still be years away from his prime.
Keep improving
"I don't know when it's going to be," Woods said. "The whole idea is to try and keep improving. When all is said and done, when you rack the cue and go home and retire, you can honestly say, 'These were my best years, when I was at my peak'. But when you're in it, you're always trying to improve that little bit to get to the next level."
As the trophies keep piling up, the numbers are simply staggering.
Woods now has won 61 times in just more than 11 full years on the U.S. tour. Jack Nicklaus was 36 when he captured his 61st tour victory. He has won 28 per cent of the time since turning pro, and if that number is hard to fathom alone, consider that Mickelson has won nine per cent of his tournaments, Singh is at eight per cent and Ernie Els at six per cent.
Woods' final putt for par at East Lake put him at 23-under 257 for the lowest 72-hole score of his career, and six shots better than the previous record at the U.S. Tour Championship.
A week earlier at Cog Hill, he broke the tournament record by five shots at 22-under 262, winning by two over Aaron Baddeley.
With his 2007 season in the books - all he has left is the President's Cup and his Target World Challenge in December - Woods finished with a 67.79 adjusted scoring average, equaling his record from the 2000 season.
And while the US$10,867,052 (€7,831,000) was short by US$38,114 (€27,500) of the record Singh set in 2004, the big Fijian played 29 times that year. Woods played in only 16 tournaments. That's an average of US$172,493 (€124,300) per round.
Better balance
Woods said the latest adjustment since the British Open, where he tied for 12th, was simply shifting the weight more toward the balls of his feet for better balance. That made it appear he was standing closer to the ball.
Swing coach Hank Haney hasn't seen much change for the past two years, with one exception. What he watched with regularity on the range at Woods' home course in Isleworth, he now sees more often inside the ropes on the U.S. PGA Tour.
It's still not perfect.
Woods lunged at one tee shot on the 16th hole at East Lake in the opening round, scolding himself when it sailed to the right.
"Tiger Woods!" he said through clenched teeth. "Trust your swing."
Haney believes that trust was evident at Oakmont in the third round of the U.S. Open, when Woods hammered a driver down the middle of the fairway on his way to perhaps his best ball-striking round of the year. He hit 17 greens in regulation that day.
"I know what that hole feels like to him. It's really tight," Haney said. "On the practice tee, he said, 'I'm driving the ball in the fairway'. And he piped it right down the middle, then did the same thing on Sunday. I felt that was big turning point in his confidence."
Woods didn't see it that way.
Hard work, but enjoyable
In his eyes, the turning point came at the Western Open last July. He had just missed the cut in a major for the first time, opened with a 72 at Cog Hill, then spent hours that Thursday afternoon on the practice range. It was hard work, but enjoyable.
For the first time since his father died, it was fun.
"I got over all the things that happened earlier, and I finally got back to just playing golf again," he said. "That mourning period ... I felt I was done with it. Once I got back to playing golf, I felt I was back in my rhythm again. And from then, if you look at my results since then, it's been pretty good."
No one thought that 2000 season could ever be topped and it probably remains the benchmark. Woods won nine times in 20 starts, including three straight majors, and three victories of at least eight shots. But his highest winning percentage was last year (8-of-15), and his adjusted scoring average is the same as it was in 2000.
Instead of looking back, consider the future. What if he still hasn't hit his prime?
