Posted by Jason Sobel
ATLANTA -- It's tough to say exactly when Tiger Woods won the Tour Championship. It may have been when he drained that 18-foot birdie putt to complete his second round in 63 strokes. It may have been nine holes earlier, when he drained a rumbling, bumbling, stumbling 70-footer for eagle on No. 9. It may have been the bunker hole-out on 5 that gave him a share of the lead.
Hell, it may have been before any of that. Woods may have won this thing when he pulled his courtesy car into the East Lake Golf Club parking lot this week.
It's getting to the point where it's a done deal for Tiger before he even tees it up on Thursday; he seemingly needs only show up for tournaments these days and he'll get a trophy come Sunday evening.
Don't believe it? Fine. I didn't want to have to do this, but let's break out the numbers on exactly why Woods is going to win PGA Tour victory No. 61 this week.
From the home office in Atlanta, here's today's Top 10 List (snarky comments sold separately):
10. Woods has won in three of his last four starts, finshing T-2 in the other one.
One loss head-to-head to Phil Mickelson every 10 years is just fine, thanks.
9. Including this week, he's broken 70 in 15 of his last 18 rounds.
Somehow you know that opening-round 72 in Boston -- his worst of the bunch -- is still eating at him.
8. In his career, Woods is 29-for-35 when leading after the second round.
And Sergio Garcia is ... not.
7. His 36-hole total of 127 is lowest in tournament history.
In your face, previous record holder Bart Bryant!
6. His 36-hole total of 127 is also lowest on the PGA Tour this season.
You too, Jeff Quinney!
5. Woods is 27-under-par for his last four rounds (65-64 at the BMW; 64-63 this week).
There's more red on his scorecards lately than there is in Arrowhead Stadium.
4. In five previous times he's carded five straight birdies or more, he's gone on to win the tournament in three of 'em.
Don't ask him what happened in the other two.
3. He's paired with Woody Austin on Saturday.
Woody thinks he can hang with Woods. So did Rory. This could get ugly.
2. The next two rounds will in all likelihood be his last competitive rounds of 2007.
And he desperately needs another trophy for Sam Alexis' playroom.
1. The guy tends to enjoy being a part of history.
Seven wins. Player of the Year. FedEx Cup champion. Yup, that sounds about right.
