The Hindu : Sport / Golf : Woods's track record suggests another big year

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 02, 2006

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Sport - Golf

Woods's track record suggests another big year

SAN DIEGO: Tiger Woods stepped into the chill of the evening and headed to the airport for a 20-hour flight to Dubai, with plenty of time to wonder where his latest victory will take him over the rest of the year.

Expectations figure to be greater than ever.

Woods once said the public tends to exaggerate the state of his game, perhaps because he can make it look easy. Win one tournament and people say he's unbeatable. Go a month without winning and he's in a slump.

``I've been out here long enough to have seen both ends of the spectrums,'' Woods said of the expectations. ``They're always high. They've seen what I can do, and they think I can hit some shots. It's awfully nice that they think I can do that.''

But his track record suggests another big year could be in the making.

His playoff victory last weekend in the Buick Invitational was the fourth time in his 10 years on the U.S. PGA Tour that Woods began the season with a victory. Each time, more trophies quickly followed.

In his first full season, he beat Tom Lehman in the 1997 Mercedes Championships at La Costa by sticking a 7-iron inches (centimetres) from the cup on the first playoff hole. Three months later, the legend was born when he overwhelmed Augusta National to win the Masters by 12 shots.

Historic season

Woods opened his historic 2000 season in Hawaii in a terrific battle with Ernie Els, matching eagles and birdies on the 18th hole before beating the Big Easy on the second playoff hole with a 40-foot birdie putt. By year's end, he had three straight majors among his nine victories.

And when he missed eight weeks recovering from knee surgery, Woods returned to the U.S. PGA Tour in 2003 by shutting down Phil Mickelson and his ``inferior equipment'' comments to win by four shots at Torrey Pines Club. Woods won two of his next three starts, including an 11-shot victory at Bay Hill, and ended the year with five wins. ``Last year, I had a long way to go. I had a lot of different things I needed to fix to be ready for Augusta,'' Woods said. — AP

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