Woods Favored to Win Buick

By John Reger
SportsTicker Contributing Writer

LA JOLLA, California (Ticker) -- The broken record that is Tiger Woods' victory streak at Torrey Pines may add a few more hits this year. The Torrey Pines Golf Club also is the site of the U.S. Open and many believe the engraver can get an early start putting Woods' name on the trophy.

If you go by his record at the famous South Course, you may wonder why the USGA is even going to stage the nation's championship. It might be more efficient to just go right to the trophy presentation and let people enjoy the view of the Pacific Ocean. Woods enters his season opener in search of a "fourpeat" at the $5.2 million Buick Invitational, which begins Thursday. He also will return here in June looking to win the year's second major. Woods spent the last five weeks enjoying life off the golf course and mentally preparing for what could be his best season of his career.

"I feel good, the break was nice," Woods said. "It was nice to get away from it for a little bit, and to practice and play and stay at home for a little bit was kind of nice. Usually during that period I'm always overseas, so it was a little different. It was nice to be at home with (wife) Elin and (daughter) Sam and to have fun." Now, though he returns to work and comes with a focus and a goal of winning the Grand Slam. He held all four major championships at one time, winning the U.S. Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship in 2000, then winning the Masters in 2001. Now he would like to win all in the same calendar year. "A couple years ago I came within four shots of at least being in a playoff ... winning or being in a playoff on all four, so yeah, I think it is possible," Woods said. "It would be nice. It would be doing it a different way than I had done before. Hopefully I get it done."

The U.S. Open at least looks like a lock. His success in the Buick Invitational and Torrey Pines South Course is unmatched. He has won the event five of the 10 times he has played, including three in a row and four of the last five. His worst finish here is a tie for 10th in 2004 and his other finishes were a tie for second, tie for third, fourth and a tie for fifth. That doesn't count the times he came down as a youngster and won the prestigious Junior World events. "I've played when it was burnt out, bone dry, fog delays," Woods said. "I was telling (his coach) Hank (Haney), we were yelling out on the first tee, `All clear on the No. 1 fairway,' that kind of thing, and keep playing. I've seen what can happen here that time of year, and I do feel comfortable on this golf course. It's a matter of having my game show up at the right time. You've got to make sure it peaks at that time."

As if he needed another advantage, the course was redesigned by Rees Jones in 2001 and now it is not only longer, but requires a certain amount of shotmaking, two areas Woods excels at. "When the greens get firm like they did the first year of the redesign, that's when you had to truly shot-make," Woods said. "That's very similar to what we're going to have to do during the U.S. Open. You have to be able to move the golf ball, be able to place it, lag putt really well. I think that shot-making is now more apparent. You have to do it more here now with the redesign than you did before. Before it was just a driver out there, a 9-iron or a wedge at every flag and try to shoot 20-plus under par. It's not going to happen."