Woods is Ready, Waiting for Augusta

By Jared Trexler

The Phanatic Magazine

A three iron, eight iron, flip wedge, two-putt from 50 feet sequence has become all the more customary for Tiger Woods.

Reducing the famed Blue Monster's 18th hole -- lined down the left with Florida aqua, down the right with mile-high, swaying palm towers, and complete with a devilishly slender piece of real estate we'll call the putting surface -- to a mire chip, chip, chip, putt, putt only begins to illustrate Woods' dominance...

Of a game no one, not even Jack Nicklaus, has ever dominated.

A second-round 66 in tepid conditions followed by a 68 on a rain-soaked Saturday left Woods four clear of the field, and a front nine 35 Sunday gave him a large enough lead that even three bogeys in the final eight holes couldn't deter the coronation.

Doral -- in the same company of St. Andrews, Firestone and a little Georgian Peach the golf world ascends upon in just over one week -- is Tiger's track.

And in the same sense, the World Golf Championships are Tiger's tournaments. He has won a remarkable 13 of 24 WGC events, including five of the last seven. He is also rather comfortable at Doral -- 74 under par in 20 rounds.

"I love this golf course," Woods said in the understatement of the golf season. "I always play well here."

But doesn't Woods play well everywhere? (The answer to that rhetorical question is a resounding, "YES!")

Next stop on the Tiger train, Augusta. The Masters -- where Woods' media-driven arch nemesis and the tournament's defending champion Phil Mickelson awaits. Speaking of Lefty, he finished 70-69 to finish a respectable T23 following an opening round 77.

Woods' double bogey-triple bogey "The world is tilting off its axis!" finish at Bay Hill the week prior was nothing but an aberration. The best players in the world -- more specifically the best player on the planet -- have hiccups in sports' most humbling arena from time to time.

He looked strong physically and poised mentally and emotionally for the task at hand -- and the task ahead.

Woods is driven by numerical standards of excellence -- particularly his record and subsequent victories in the four major championships. As customary, he takes the week off before Augusta to prepare.

As if he doesn't look ready already.

Making bogey because you can afford it on Doral's 72nd hole is an indication of that.

---------

Jared Trexler is The Phanatic Magazine's Golf Editor. He can be reached at jtrexler@phanaticmag.com