Tiger Woods has been described as a freak of nature and his rivals could certainly be forgiven for thinking that he's super-human. Having thrashed the rest of the field by eight strokes at the Buick Invitational last month, Woods jetted east through a dozen time zones for the Desert Classic in Dubai, arriving in the morning and declaring that he wasn't even tired.
He went on to win the Desert Classic for the second time. Unlike California, he triumphed by just a single stroke; but he did so by making six birdies on the way back to the Emirates clubhouse, pulling off his biggest comeback in some eight years. However he does it, it's exciting; and this year could be his best yet.
Tiger reckons his swing is better now than ever before, better even than 2000 and 2001 when he won four consecutive majors.
"I think I'm a much better golfer now than I was, I've got a better understanding of how to get around a golf course. I've got more shots now than I did. I've a better understanding of how to fix my game when it's not going right and how to manage a round so that I don't let it slip away and shoot a high number.
"You're not always going to have your best stuff but you've still got a chance to win each and every week. Then, when you do have your good stuff, that's when you win by larger margins. I think that's the difference," he said.
His margins of victory these days might not be as big as the glory days of a decade ago when he could win majors by as many as 15 strokes, but his overall dominance now is greater than ever. Following the victory in Dubai, the gap between Woods and world No. 2 Phil Mickelson was as big as the gap between Mickelson and the player ranked 1,000th in the world.
Tiger won eight events last year -- banking over US$10 million in prize money -- but despite all the wealth, the fame and the acclaim, he remains as focused and dedicated as ever.
"Tomorrow is a chance to become better than I am today, that's the beauty of life. And the only way to become better tomorrow is to work your tail off today. And I enjoy that. I enjoy work. I always have," he said.
WORK ETHIC
For the source of his work ethic, Tiger says we should look no further than his Mom and Dad. And he acknowledges that the death of his father and mentor Earl, in May 2006, took a heavy toll on him personally and professionally.
"I tried to block it out; thought I was fine. But as everyone saw at the British Open, it hit home a lot deeper than I thought," he said.
Having won the Open at Hoylake in 2006, Tiger was inconsolable, crying into the arms of his friend and caddie Steve Williams. But by the time he'd won seven consecutive events in January last year, many assumed that the mourning was over.
Talk had turned to the imminent birth of his daughter and his thoughts on Byron Nelson's record winning streak.
Dark days were to follow, though. His once-feared killer instinct was notably absent at the Masters and the US Open and he was indifferent at the Wachovia and The Memorial. South Africa's Rory Sabatini said that Woods was "more beatable than ever, I like the new Tiger."
Williams talked of Tiger's loneliness, impatience and mood swings, and the man himself even confessed to a journalist in North Carolina that he'd spent the night staring at his hotel room clock, marking to the minute the anniversary of his father's death.
RSS