Drought Ends if He Reigns

AUGUSTA, Ga. — He never wavers. He stays on track, keeps the message the same.

He says it’s hard to win one major, let alone a bunch of them. And now, with the start of the Masters a day away, Tiger Woods is saying nothing different, only hoping that his results are.

Phil Mickelson has never won a major, Vijay Singh has been without a major victory for four years, and Ernie Els is going on two years without one, but none of that has made anything easier for Woods.

It has been 22 months since he won his last major, the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black on Long Island, but that period is clocked differently in Tiger time: It has been an eternity.

If Woods is desperate to reverse his major-less streak, he didn’t sound that way Tuesday after he’d played a practice round at Augusta National.

“There’s no urgency,” he said. “You can’t look at it that way. If you look at it that way, you won’t win.

“You look at it as a long marathon that week, and you go out there and you play one shot at a time, and you really try and stay as patient as possible.

“If you start looking at it that way, you’re going to throw your rhythm off, your concentration is not going to be right, you’re not going to be able to stay on an even keel like you have to to win major championships.”

Since he won the Match Play Championship at La Costa in February, there have been some questions about Woods’ keel.

At Bay Hill in Orlando, Fla., where he was trying to win the title for the fifth consecutive time, Woods tied for 46th -- his worst showing in five years. At the Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., Woods opened with a 75 and tied for 16th.

For someone who gears the first three months of play toward preparing for the Masters, there may be a question about Woods’ readiness. He said he was not really that far away, although he did admit that he had been working on his backswing, even so far as to say he had gone back to the basics to take care of it.

So instead of his accustomed aura, there is an air of unpredictability surrounding Woods in his 10th Masters appearance.

Nevertheless, Singh said that Woods remained an intimidating presence at the Masters, faced with the improved play of his peers.

“Tiger is Tiger,” Singh said. “I don’t know if he’s not playing well now or he just is waiting for the majors. I have no idea. I just speak for the rest of the guys. I think our play has gone a step higher, and that’s closed the gap, if there was one.”

Els said that between 1999 and 2002, Woods was at his peak.

“He played on such a level that I think [Jack] Nicklaus would have had a very tough time handling him. He was probably the only guy that could have maybe played with Tiger in that stretch.

“And, yes, he’s cooled down a little bit. But still, he’s playing at a very high level, still not on the same level, but he’s up there.”

Woods’ winless streak at the majors has included all sorts of results. In 2002, his third-round 81 in the wind at Muirfield doomed him to a tie for 28th in the British Open, even though he closed with a 65. He was second by a shot to Rich Beem in the PGA Championship at Hazeltine in Chaska, Minn., despite a final-round 67.

Last year at the Masters, Woods was in the hunt until he shot 75 on Sunday and tied for 15th. He was only three shots out of the lead at the U.S. Open at Olympia Fields near Chicago, but played the weekend in seven over and tied for 20th. At the British Open at Royal St. George’s, Woods couldn’t make a move Sunday when Ben Curtis won and Woods tied for fourth, two shots back. Woods struggled through the PGA Championship at Oak Hill in Rochester, N.Y., wound up at 12 over par in a tie for 39th, 16 shots behind winner Shaun Micheel.

Woods may see no urgency in reversing his fortune, but there are plenty of others who are available to step in and do it for him. Expectations for Woods remain far different from those of other players. Woods acknowledges as much but says he doesn’t let it affect him.

“That’s just the way it is. It’s actually the only thing I’ve ever known since I’ve been out here,” he said. “It’s just different. I was compared to Nicklaus when I first came out here, [and] now I’m being compared to what I did in 2000, 1999, 2001. It’s just the way it is.”

Defending champion Mike Weir said the perceptions involving Woods, that he ought to win more majors, would be difficult to handle if the player were someone other than Woods.

“We all know how difficult the game is,” Weir said. “It always has its ebbs and flows and no matter who you are, you can’t stay right at the top, week in and week out. He’s done it better than anybody.

“You just have to persevere through when you’re not playing your best. Even when he’s not playing his best, he can still win tournaments. He’ll figure it out.

“Might be just one week he’s not playing too well. I know he’s probably not that far off.”

That’s how Woods described the state of his game Tuesday. Of course, he always seems to say he’s not that far off when he describes his game. At least he is consistent, staying on the message, keeping on track.

If Woods can do that, maybe this major issue will work itself out and Tiger time will revert to keeping track of how long until the next major is played, not how long it has been since he won his last one.

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Masters Facts

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* What: The 68th Masters tournament.

* When: Thursday-Sunday.

* Where: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Ga.

* Course: 7,290 yards, par 72.

* Format: 72 holes of stroke play, sudden-death playoff if necessary.

* Purse: TBA (2003, $6 million). Winner’s share: TBA (2003, $1.08 million).

* Television: USA Network (Thursday-Friday, 1-3:30 p.m.) and CBS (Saturday, 12:30-3:30 p.m.; Sunday, 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m.).

* Last year: Mike Weir became the first left-hander and Canadian to win the tournament, beating Len Mattiace on the first hole of a playoff. Weir made par putts from five and six feet on the last two holes to shoot a bogey-free 68 for a 281 total, then won with a bogey on No. 10.

* Notable: Three-time champion Tiger Woods is winless in the last six major championships.... Four-time champion Arnold Palmer, 74, is playing his 50th and final Masters.