Posted by Jason Sobel
Well, seems pretty silly to blog about anything or anyone other than Tiger Woods today, but it's not as easy as it sounds. Let's see, Ron Sirak already put his seven-win PGA Tour streak into
historical perspective, Bob Harig looked ahead to
where the streak may continue, I wrote about Tiger's lack of complacency in the
Weekly 18, Harig and I traded e-mails about where the streak ranks in
Alternate Shot and Matt Wilansky and I debated whether Woods is a
more dominant performer than Roger Federer.
Whew. Kinda cuts down on my options for today, so let's keep it simple. So much talk about the streak, so much conjecture about how it started, when it will end, that I think there may be a lot of you still wondering about how, exactly, it came to pass.
First of all, remember, this is a PGA Tour streak only. Tiger lost to Shaun Micheel in the first round of the World Match Play Championships, was part of the losing American side at the Ryder Cup, finished runner-up at the HSBC Champions tournament in November and succumbed in a playoff to Padraig Harrington at the Dunlop Phoenix a week later.
So, let's examine the ones that count. Dating back to this past July, here are the seven tournaments that have seen Woods claim the trophy at week's end, and how he came about finding the winner's circle:
2006 British Open
First round: Shot 67 to trail leader Graeme McDowell by one stroke.
Second round: Shot 65 to take one-stroke lead over Ernie Els, Chris DiMarco and Retief Goosen.
Third round: Shot 71 to take one-stroke lead over Els, DiMarco and Sergio Garcia.
Final round: Shot 67 (tied for best round of the day) to defeat DiMarco by two strokes.
2006 Buick Open
First round: Shot 66 to trail leader Mike Weir by three strokes.
Second round: Shot 66 to trail leader Brett Quigley by one stroke.
Third round: Shot 66 to take two-stroke lead over Lucas Glover, Robert Allenby and Scott Verplank.
Final round: Shot fourth consecutive round of 66 to defeat Jim Furyk by three strokes.
2006 PGA Championship:
First round: Shot 69 to trail leaders Glover and Chris Riley by three strokes.
Second round: Shot 68 to trail leaders Henrik Stenson, Luke Donald, Billy Andrade and Tim Herron by one stroke.
Third round: Shot 65 to take share of the lead with Donald.
Final round: Shot 68 to defeat Micheel by five strokes.
2006 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational:
First round: Shot 67 to trail leader Adam Scott by four strokes.
Second round: Shot 64 to take one-stroke lead over Davis Love III.
Third round: Shot 71 to trail leader Stewart Cink by one stroke.
Final round: Shot 68 and later defeated Cink on fourth playoff hole.
2006 Deutsche Bank Championship:
First round: Shot 66 to take one-stroke lead over Justin Rose, Bob May, Joe Ogilvie, Nathan Green and Aaron Baddeley.
Second round: Shot 72 to trail leaders Rose and Allenby by two strokes.
Third round: Shot 67 to trail leader Vijay Singh by three strokes.
Final round: Shot 63 (best round of the day) to defeat Singh by two strokes.
2006 WGC-American Express Championship:
First round: Shot 66 to take one-stroke lead over Harrington and Ian Poulter.
Second round: Shot 64 to take five-stroke lead over Furyk, Cink and David Howell.
Third round: Shot 67 to take six-stroke lead over Scott.
Final round: Shot 67 to defeat Poulter and Scott by eight strokes.
2007 Buick Invitational:
First round: Shot 66 to trail leader Brandt Snedeker by five strokes.
Second round: Shot 72 to trail leader Snedeker by seven strokes.
Third round: Shot 69 to trail leaders Snedeker and Andrew Buckle by two strokes.
Final round: Shot 66 (best round of the day) to defeat Charles Howell III by two strokes.
So there you have it. During the streak, he's won as a front-runner and in come-from-behind fashion. He's won going away and in a playoff.
But two things remain constant. One: He plays his best golf in the final round, with a Sunday scoring average of 66.43. And two: He wins. No matter what.
