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WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
| Cink can only express awe as Woods dominates againFeb. 24, 2008MARANA, Ariz. -- Over the past decade, a lot of people have tried in vain to explain the phenomenon that is Tiger Woods. Stewart Cink could have a way to get to the bottom of it, once and for all.  Even Tiger Woods expresses a little surprise at what he's accomplished so far. (Halleran/WireImage)
"I think maybe we ought to slice him open to see what's inside there," Cink said, grinning. "Maybe nuts and bolts." Woods certainly played like a machine this week in winning the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship for the third time -- particularly in beating Cink 8 and 7 in Sunday's 36-hole finale. The victory was Woods' fourth straight on the PGA TOUR and the 63rd of his career, allowing him to pass Arnold Palmer and move into fourth all-time, one behind another legend in Ben Hogan. "I think anytime you're associated with Arnold and what he's done with the game of golf, it's always a positive thing," Woods, who plans to give Palmer an "earful," said. "It's hard to believe it's been over 50 years of him just being the flagship of golf on a global scale, not just here in the United States. He's played all around the world and he's carried golf. He's what brought golf into the mainstream on TV." . Seems Woods has taken over for Palmer in more ways than one. And he has now won seven of his last eight TOUR events dating back to the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational -- and he was second in the other one. The game's No. 1 player said again that he's playing better now than he ever has in his career -- including the 2000 season when he won nine times and the final three majors of the year. He finished what became the "Tiger Slam" at the 2001 Masters. Woods says he understands his game better now, and he knows how to fix things on the rare occasions when that carefully crafted swing breaks down. He has more shots than he ever had, too -- an abundance of riches of which his peers can only dream. Cink, a friend since their junior golf days, says Woods has learned how to stay within himself. That innate ability to avoid mistakes has made Woods, who made 47 birdies and two eagles in 107 holes this week, perhaps the best ever competing head-to-head. Consider his results this week as Woods ran his record to 31-6. Woods had to rally from 3 down with five holes to play in his opener with J.B. Holmes, then needed 20 holes -- and 10 birdies -- to outlast Aaron Baddeley in the third round. He never let Cink in their title tilt as he made five birdies in the first 11 holes of the morning 18 and went to lunch 4 up. Another spurt of three straight that began at the sixth hole in the afternoon produced an 8-up advantage and paved the way for the inevitable. "I think he just has such a strong sense of belief in himself that he's just never out of it," Cink said. "He's never going to mess up. He's just always in control. He never loses his composure. "He gets mad; that's not what I'm referring to. But he never loses his composure. He always stays very poised, and he doesn't very often throw away a shot." Woods sees things more simply, though. "I love winning and I hate losing," he said. "My father was the same way. Anyone in here who knows my mom -- my mom is probably more fiery than my dad. That's kind of the household I grew up in. "We were always competitive. You never backed down to anybody. And that's the fun part about competing; it's the fun thing about playing sports. My dad, in his former occupation, you back down, you die. So you can't have that mentality."  Tiger Woods can get mad at himself, but he never loses his composure. (Badz/PGA TOUR/WireImage)
Asked whether it was fair to say that Woods has separated himself from the rest of the PGA TOUR once again, Cink agreed. What was once the "Big Five" is now more like the TV game show "1 vs. 100" where one player competes against the "mob." "The only thing about that assessment that I'm not sure is fair is if anybody ever really got that close to him a couple of years ago," Cink said. Those awe-inspiring shots that draw oohs and ahhs from the crowd elicit similar shows of respect from his peers. Cink says he'll get messages from his friends on TOUR -- "some of them will be about my shots and some of them will be about his." Even Woods admits he's surprised by what he's accomplished at the age of 32. "Well, if you would have asked me would I have attained what I have right now when I first turned pro at 20 years old, (I would have said) no," Woods said. "I could never have foreseen my victory total being this high, my game improvement being as much as it has been, my knowledge of the game. "I would never have foreseen that. I knew I was going to get better, but I didn't think I was going to have this victory total when I first turned pro, no." The victory at the Gallery Golf Club at Dove Mountain was Woods' 15 in the 26 World Golf Championships he's entered. Only Darren Clarke has managed to win more than one in the series designed to bring together the best players from around the globe -- which is further evidence of Woods' domination. "They're exactly what they were meant to be, and that's putting the best up against each other more often than just the four majors and THE PLAYERS," he said. "I think that's why we as players and competitors love them, love the idea that we can go head to head more often. "Most of the guys play in Europe or some other part of the world, and we don't get a chance to buck heads. Maybe, like I said, just five times. And now we can do it more frequently, and I think it's been a huge success." Take it from someone who knows what the word means. | HEADLINES
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