Golf's longest winning
streak, for years thought to be unapproachable, crept closer into view Sunday
in the Mercedes Championships, the start of a new season on the PGA Tour that
had a familiar ring.
Tiger Woods won again.
"Winning is kind of a habit
for him right now," said Ernie Els, the two-time U.S. Open champion who matched
Woods eagle-for-eagle, birdie-for-birdie until the world's No. 1 player finished
him off on the second hole of a playoff.
What better setting for
Woods to extend golf's longest winning streak in 46 years. Maui is renowned for
its monster waves, and Woods could be riding this one toward a place in history.
Not since Ben Hogan in
1953 has a player won five straight tournaments. (See list of PGA Tour Consecutive
Victory Leaders.) When Woods tees it up again in a couple of weeks, he'll try
to match the six straight PGA Tour events that Hogan in 1948.
The ultimate prize? Byron
Nelson's record of 11 consecutive victories in 1945, the one record in golf deemed
even more untouchable that Jack Nicklaus's 18 professional majors.
"Yeah, I believe someone
can do it," Woods said before the tournament. "You need luck. But you also need
to play well. In that stretch, I'm sure he didn't win every tournament. I'm sure
somebody probably gave him a tournament or two here and there, which you're probably
going to need to have happen."
That wasn't the case on
the windy Plantation Course at Kapalua, where Woods and Els staged one of the
most dramatic duels in years.
Tied for the lead at the
start of the final round, neither player led by more than one stroke during the
final 20 holes. Both made an eagle on the final hole in regulation, both made
birdies on the first sudden-death hole.
Woods finally won with
a birdie putt on the next hole, No. 1, by dropping a putt only he thought he
could make -- 40 feet, down the hill but into the grain with 2 1/2 feet of break.
"If you believe in something
so hard, for some reason it only happens when you're in a crunch situation, when
all the pressure is there," Woods said. "If you truly believe that you can make
the putt, you can make the stroke, the ball will go in."
It did, and Woods picked
up right where he left off seven weeks ago.
In Spain, under floodlights
the second week of November, he made a 15-foot birdie putt on the first extra
hole to beat hometown favorite Miguel Angel Jimenez. Under cloudy skies on the
hilly terrain above the Pacific Ocean, Woods was just as impressive.
"It was just a great, great
fight between us," Woods said. "To hit the shots that we did, at the times we
did ... Ernie and I have had some good battles so far. It's been great."
For his part, Els proved
he has the game to challenge Woods. He was better from tee to green, even longer
with his drives in several cases. Over four days and 74 holes on a wind-ravaged
course, Els made par or better on all but two holes.
When Woods took a one-stroke
lead on the 10th hole, Els responded by knocking down the flag on the par-3 11th
for a birdie. When Woods reached the 633-yard closing hole in two, Els bashed
his second shot even closer.
"The more I play with him
in these kinds of situations, the better for myself," Els said. "We'll see next
time."
For all the talk about
Woods's chief rival, no one has had more confrontations on the back nine with
him than Els.
Woods came from eight strokes
behind to catch him -- and then beat him in a playoff -- in the Johnnie Walker
Classic in Thailand two years ago, and he outlasted him again in the National
Car Rental Classic at Disney World only three months ago, winning by a stroke.
Els whipped Woods in a
36-hole Sunday at a href="/tours/1998/pga/bayhill/story4.html">Bay Hill in 1998,
and also held him off to win the a href="/tours/1999/pga/nissan/story4.html">Nissan
Open in Los Angeles last February.
Still, Els has seen enough
of Woods to never be surprised by anything, especially a 40-foot birdie putt
struck with authority on greens that require caution.
"You have to have a little
bit of heart and a bit of guts to hit that hard," Els said. "If he missed the
hole, he was 4 feet by. But he was probably thinking he was going to hole it.
That's exactly what he did."
Woods has been doing that
a lot, lately. His victims during his five-tournament winning streak include
Phil Mickelson, Davis Love III, Jimenez and Els twice. Four of those victories
have been by one stroke -- the last two in a playoff -- another testament that
Woods's head may be as good as his swing.
The good news for the rest
of the PGA Tour is that Woods is taking off the next couple of weeks. But the
message his victory sent was daunting.
Stopping him will require
great golf, and even that isn't always enough.
"I don't know for the other
players, but it definitely feels like I'm still improving, still hitting better
shots," he said.
