His winning streak is the longest in one season on the PGA TOUR since Hogan won six in a row in 1948. Woods won six straight PGA Tour events at the end of the '99 and start of the '00 season.

Woods opened with rounds of 63-64, and no one had a chance unless he came back to the field. Even on a day with sunshine, wind, thunder and rain, there wasn't much chance of that happening.

"The only thing we didn't have was snow," Woods said. "It was a day of being patient and not making any bogeys. I made one."

Furyk might have been one shot closer if not for an extraordinary show of fairness.

He was at 15 under when his approach to the sixth buried in lush, native grass on the side of a hill. The entire group searched for the ball, and it was located only because Ian Poulter inadvertently stepped on it. By rule, Furyk had to drop the ball in the same spot without penalty because of the outside interference.

Furyk then told rules official Mike Shea he was taking a one-stroke penalty for an unplayable lie because he would not have been able to play it had the group found the ball without Poulter stepping on it. He went back to the fairway and got up-and-down for bogey, falling seven shots behind.

There was only one other player who got close to Woods, and that was an accident.

Woods hit an iron from 225 yards into 3 feet on the par-5 second hole, lipped out the short eagle putt and tapped in to reach 20 under. The lad carrying the scoreboard got confused and listed Brett Quigley at 20 under, leaving Woods at 19 under, which came as a surprise to the fans lining the third fairway.

It was quickly fixed. The fans who had been watching Woods' exhibition over four days knew better.

Next up for Woods is a break. He has played seven of the last nine weeks, including a two-day trip to Ireland to get ready for the Ryder Cup, and was not sure when he would return.

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