MARANA, Ariz. -- Athletes are notorious smoke-blowers when it comes to propping themselves up mentally, if not physically. Golfers, whether you consider them athletes or not, probably top the list.
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| Tiger Woods is zoned in, continuing his perfect start to 2008. (AP) |
Over the past few months, Tiger Woods has said several times with a straight face that he's never played better, a notion that first raised both eyebrows and the corners of a few mouths. He said it again Sunday, after reinforcing the notion with steel rivets in winning the Accenture Match Play Championship for the third time.
"I think this is certainly the best stretch I have ever played," Woods said.
Fine, don't believe him. But you ought to believe me.
Woods won his fifth consecutive worldwide start on Sunday by shredding veteran Stewart Cink, 8 and 7, in the finals at The Gallery at Dove Mountain, to claim his 15th career World Golf Championships title. Woods obliterated the tournament record for the largest margin of victory in the 36-hole final, besting the 6-and-5 mark set by David Toms three years ago.
Over the past 1½ years, he has cobbled together a stretch of sustained brilliance that in nearly every regard matches or exceeds any he's managed in his 13 record-besting seasons as a professional. Accept what you will, but assessing the state of his game is no longer a subjective exercise borne of nit-picking network analysts or swing gurus with personal agendas. It can be validated with vim, vigor and sheer victories.
Better than ever? Like his scorecard, you can add it up.
At the Buick Invitational, he set a new mark for biggest margin of victory. Last fall, at the BMW Championship and Tour Championship, he set tournament scoring records. A week before the former, he shot a record-tying 63 en route to his 13th Grand Slam victory, at the PGA Championship.
This week, he played 50 holes at one point without recording a bogey. With Sunday's victory, Woods assumed the No. 4 spot in all-time wins, moving out of a tie with Arnold Palmer and to within one of Ben Hogan, who had 63 career victories. Truly, all that's just window dressing, really.
The totality of his current run is what's downright convincing, even when measured against his Sistine Chapel of 2000, the acknowledged apex of his career. Some consider that season, which included three major championships among his nine victories, as the greatest of any player in the post-war era. Arguing the point felt tantamount to heresy, until now.
Well, genuflect before these new facts, true believers:
In a span encompassing mid-1999 into late 2000, Woods won 17 of 30 (56.7 percent) of his official starts worldwide, a span where he also managed three seconds. That tallies to 20 of 30 (66.7 percent) events with either first or second as his final result. He was outside the top 10 four times and won four majors.
