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Great Year for Tiger, Inside the Ropes

CHANDLER'S CROSS, England (AP) - Tiger Woods used to say that winning a major makes it a great year. Not in 2006, even though he won the British Open and the PGA Championship. Starting with the Buick Invitational at the end of January through the American Express Championship on Sunday, Woods won eight times on the PGA Tour and became the first player in tour history with at least eight wins in three seasons.

Big deal.

No matter what he achieves the rest of the way, 2006 will always be the year his father died.

His latest victory was his sixth in a row on the PGA, matching Ben Hogan for the second-longest streak in one season, and inching closer to the 11 in a row won by Byron Nelson in 1945, the record deemed to be out of reach. It now seems possible for no other reason than Woods is 109 under par during his streak, winning by a combined 20 strokes, one of those wins in a playoff.

By all accounts, this is shaping up as one of his best seasons ever. It certainly is worthy of comparisons to his benchmark year of 2000, when he won three consecutive majors among his nine PGA Tour victories and shattered scoring records.

Even so, Woods will remember it for other reasons.

Standing beside the 18th green at The Grove after enduring two rain delays and blowing away the field by eight shots, Woods was asked how he would remember 2006. The somber look on his face said more than the two words that followed.

"A loss."

Someone asked if this might be his best year because of what happened off the golf course, and Woods turned the question around.

"If you take into account what happened off the golf course, it's my worst year," he said. "People asked me ... 'How do you consider the year?' I consider it as a loss. In the grand scheme of things, golf doesn't even compare to losing a parent."

The streak began with Woods' victory in the British Open in July, his first since Earl Woods died of cancer. That lifted a huge burden from Woods, and the emotions were evident as he broke down on the shoulder of his caddie and in the arms of his wife.

Perhaps more amazing was winning twice before then.

Woods' year started by skipping the season-opening Mercedes Championships for the first time when he was healthy, a decision criticized in some corners for either not supporting the PGA Tour or snubbing his nose at guys who would have done anything to get into the winners-only event at Kapalua.

But that time turned out to be the most cherished. Woods rarely left California during his six-week break, tending to his father and taking him to the hospital.

"Through the end of last year and the beginning of this year, it wasn't any fun," Woods said. "My dad was dying. He could have gone twice, but he fought it off, and that gave me inspiration."

Earl Woods died May 3, and Woods disappeared from golf for nine weeks.

He returned to the U.S. Open at Winged Foot and missed the cut for the first time in a major, and it wasn't particularly close. Suddenly, there were questions about how he would deal with the loss of his father, best friend, role model and architect of his game.

"It took me longer than I thought to cope with it," Woods said. "I've never gone through anything like that."

He emerged stronger than ever.

After opening with a 1-over 72 at the Western Open to raise even more questions about his swing and motivation, Woods has been close to unstoppable over the last three months. He wound up tied for second at Cog Hill, and no one has beaten him since then in a stroke-play tournament.

"He's dominating the game," Adam Scott said Sunday. "It's not the first time he's done it, either."

Woods considers his winning streak to be at one.

He lost in the first round of the World Match Play Championship on the European Tour. And despite his first winning record in the Ryder Cup (3-2), the Americans got trounced again. In his eyes, that's two tournaments and two losses.

But he also acknowledges PGA Tour record books, and he is 6-0 since the British Open. Five more victories - three of those likely will be against short fields - could put him on the verge of matching Nelson.

"Let's just try and get there," Woods said. "Let's talk about that if that day ever happens. That will be a nice thing to talk about."

The frightening thing for the rest of the field is that Woods seems to be getting better with each week.

He pounded the ball at the Buick Open when he won by three shots, only hit driver one time at Hoylake to win the British Open, relied on his putting to capture the PGA Championship, survived on grit at Firestone to beat Stewart Cink in a playoff, and delivered near perfection in a front-nine 30 outside Boston when he overtook Vijay Singh.

At the American Express Championship, it was his most complete victory of the year.

Not only was he third in driving distance, Woods ranked fifth in driving accuracy, which isn't fair. He went 36 consecutive holes without missing a green in regulation, and he was putting for birdie or eagle on 65 of the 72 holes at The Grove. And he won by eight shots despite taking 65 putts over the final two rounds.

He can't quite reach the standard set in 2000 because he won three majors that year. And while he says his iron play is the best it has ever been, the putting has been streaky. Woods gets exasperated trying to compare seasons to 2000, a question that has dogged him the last five years. He doubts it will ever go away unless he wins more tournaments and more majors.

And maybe that's coming.

"People want to compare it to the past," Woods said. "And I'm trying to get better in the future."

Source: www.intwebnews.com

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