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Focus should be on Tiger Woods winning
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-08 09:14
MIAMI - Tiger Woods has played only 17 rounds this year and already has three
victories, a sign that his mystique is returning after a three-year absence.
 But with that comes an inflated belief that Woods only wins because
everyone wilts.
There is plenty of evidence, of course, the latest example coming Sunday at
Doral when former PGA champion David Toms had his only three-putt of the week on
the final hole. That allowed Woods, who was watching from the fairway, to play
away from the water with a 9-iron and win with a bogey.
And don't forget what happened 11 times zone apart in consecutive weeks.
Two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal missed a 4-foot par putt to
lose on the second playoff hole at Torrey Pines. The next week, three-time major
winner Ernie Els hit a 4-iron that came up a yard short and into the water to
lose a playoff to Woods in Dubai.
But to suggest that even steely major champions suffocate in Woods' presence
is to deny Woods proper credit for being perhaps the greatest closer golf has
ever seen.
"I look at this way — I put myself there," Woods said after winning Doral.
"So if I put myself there enough times, those things are going to happen, as
well as other guys are going to make birdies to beat me. That's the way it goes.
As long as I'm there ... it's not a bad place to be."
He has played well enough to take a two-shot lead into the final round 20
times on the PGA Tour and never lost. He has had at least a share of the 54-hole
lead 37 times on tour, and has lost only three times — to Retief Goosen, Phil
Mickelson and the ultimate trivia answer, Ed Fiori.
Runner-up finishes are rare.
Everyone is keeping score as Woods tries to break Jack Nicklaus' benchmark of
18 professional majors. What might be tougher for Woods to surpass is another
Nicklaus standard — 19 times a runner-up in the majors.
Nicklaus finished second a lot, a testament to his greatness.
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