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Tiger Woods says he is playing the best golf of his life, and it’s hard to argue after the way he has steamrolled the competition over the past six months.
With seven victories in eight official starts worldwide, including his past five events in a row, Woods is dominating in an almost unfathomable manner.
He has recorded his six stroke play victories during this stretch by a total of 29 strokes, an average of nearly five strokes per event, and he was in a different class to fellow American Stewart Cink in yesterday’s 36-hole final at the Accenture Match Play Championship.
Woods was never behind as he posted the largest margin of victory in the tournament’s championship match, an 8 and 7 demolition at Dove Mountain that again illustrated the difference between the world’s best player and everyone else.
“This is certainly the best stretch I think I’ve ever played,” Woods said after posting his 15th victory in 26 starts against the elite fields in the absurdly named World Golf Championships, an annual three-event series for the world’s best players now staged exclusively in the US.
“I have a better understanding of how to play the game, how to fix my game, and I have a lot more shots than I’ve ever had.
“I worked on my short game pretty hard this winter. I didn’t like what I was feeling at the end of last year. Even though I was winning tournaments, my short game was not very good.”
Woods has long believed he is playing better golf than he did during his golden run from late 1999 when he triumphed seven times in 11 major starts.
And yes, he is planning to win the Grand Slam of all four majors this year. He’s not promising anything, but it’s something he clearly is thinking about.
Asked whether he could win every tournament he played this year, he said: “That’s my intent.”
Cink, who has known Woods since their college days, believes Woods’s renowned on-course composure is at an all-time high.
“He’s a lot better now than he has ever been at that,” Cink said.
“He’s really learned how to stay within himself. He regulates himself and his heartbeat. It’s really impressive and it’s paying off for him.”
Woods’ win was his 63rd on the US PGA Tour, fourth on the all-time list behind Sam Snead (82), Jack Nicklaus (73) and Ben Hogan (64).
His victory against Cink was never in doubt, but such are the vagaries of match play that Woods was nearly sent packing in both the first and third rounds.
JB Holmes had Woods on the ropes in the first round, 3-up with five holes left, but Woods stormed back to win four holes in a row and escape from jail.
But he was even closer to defeat against Aaron Baddeley on Friday. Had the Australian sunk either a three-metre birdie on the final regulation hole, or a four-metre putt on the first extra hole, Woods would have been out.
“That’s the fickleness of match play,” Woods said.
“I played 107 holes this week. I could easily have played 16 and then been home.”