HERTFORDSHIRE, England -- Tiger Woods has set so many records during the last decade, it almost borders on the routine.

And judging by the way he’s playing this week at the American Express Championship, two more could be on the horizon -- and on two Tours, to boot.

Woods stands 15 under through two rounds at The Grove, which is more than halfway to the European Tour’s 72-hole record in relation to par and on pace to challenge Ernie Els’ PGA TOUR mark of 31 under set at the Mercedes-Benz Championship in 2003.

Not that Woods is giving either standard a second thought, though.

“Who cares, as long as I get the W?” said Woods, the defending champion who is seeking a fifth American Express Championship title this week. “If I shoot 50 under or if I shoot 11-under par, that's good enough to win. Who really cares?”

Woods’ rounds of 63 and 64 have enabled him to open a five-stroke advantage over his Ryder Cup teammates, Stewart Cink and Jim Furyk, and David Howell, who played for the victorious Europeans at The K Club last week.

Cink had given the reporters in attendance their “money” quote on Thursday when he said The Grove was so well-suited to the game’s No. 1 player that the name should be changed to Tiger Woods. There are some other words that might come back to haunt him, as well.

Asked whether it was demoralizing or motivating to see Woods at the top of the leaderboard, Cink hedged his bets. “Well, it’s neither yet,” he said. “It’s not demoralizing until you see him beating everybody by 10 shots with a round to play. Then it gets demoralizing.”

Well, Woods is halfway there. In his first two rounds, he has only made one bogey, and he’s eagled the 18th hole each day. The 12 birdies have come with precision borne of hitting 21 of 28 fairways in the first two rounds, as well as 30 of 36 greens.

“Well, you can't be surprised at him, can you?” Padraig Harrington, who stands 9 under, said. “I certainly felt I could have been a few better. Obviously he's 15 under, what's he, 7-under today, it's impressive, no question about it.

“But I suppose that's why he's world No. 1, and there's something about these world golf events that he seems to like. You would think he would lose his motivation.”

Woods, who is bidding for his sixth straight PGA TOUR victory, has won 11 of the 21 individual World Golf Championships he’s played in since the global series began in 1999. And when he hasn’t won, he’s come close – finishing in the top 10 eight more times.

Those challenging Woods, though, steadfastly refuse to focus on the lucrative second-place prize of $750,000. He may be the best player in the world, but that doesn’t mean one of them can’t rise to the occasion, as well.

“I suppose it's in his own hands,” said Harrington, who is trying to play his way into the 30-man field at the season-ending TOUR Championship Presented by Coca-Cola. “But no, I'm not going to play for second, no. I'm going to try and go out there -- well, in the end of the day, if I was playing for 50th, I'd be trying just as hard.”

“So I'm going to try to shoot the lowest score I can on the weekend, try to be aggressive, not worry about, you know, making the odd mistake, make a few more birdies. I felt today I was just, you know, especially early on, I lost a little bit of patience. I felt I was hitting nice shots, but maybe just a little too safe, and I feel I've got to take advantage of when I'm swinging it well to go after a few more pins.”

Harrington admits he has become a more defensive player -- “sensible,” he says -- over the years. In the beginning, the two-time PGA TOUR champion would just hit it and go find it, and maybe Saturday should signal a return to such a strategy.

“Obviously Tiger is a bit relentless, but you know, it's something to give me to chase on the weekend,” Harrington said. “There's no point in holding back now. It's about being aggressive on the weekend and trying to make plenty of birdies.”