Tiger Woods gunning for Masters

One hour before a nine-hole sprint to the finish at The Players Championship, 21 of the 22 players who returned to complete the final round were warming up on the practice range.

Tiger Woods was not among them.

He was working alone on the back end of the range in a secluded area of chipping greens tucked behind the trees. Swing coach Butch Harmon stood at his side, arms crossed, as Woods practiced an assortment of short-game shots -- a bump-and-run up the slope, a pitch that screams up the hill and skids to a halt, a soft flop shot from 25 yards away.

He didn't need any of those shots Monday when he held off Vijay Singh to win The Players Championship.

But that was never the purpose of this practice.

Even with a $6 million purse and a prestigious tournament like The Players Championship at stake, The Masters is never far from his mind.

Woods started the final round Sunday two strokes behind, and made up that deficit in unlikely fashion by holing a 90-foot chip for eagle, a beautiful bump-and-run up the ridge with a pace so perfect that it barely touched the pin when it dropped in the hole.

"It was reminiscent to the chip I was practicing last night, back in the chipping area,'' he said, recalling a Saturday evening session similar to the one Monday morning. "I was just kind of practicing those type of shots and getting ready for Augusta. It's like the same chip you would find on No. 11, if you bail out to the right, kind of chip it across to the green.''

No one else practiced that way.

For two days in a row, Singh placed an umbrella at his feet for alignment and a water bottle about a foot away from his right shoe to keep the club from coming too far inside. He struck each shot from behind the previous divot, digging a trench as he tried to perfect his swing.

"I've looked forward to this since I left here last year,'' he said earlier in the week.

Jerry Kelly practiced patience. He was trying to make The Players Championship his first tour victory, which would have brought him a three-year exemption to The Masters. When he left the course Saturday night as the 54-hole leader, he had only one thing on his mind.

"Just try to hit a good drive off the first tee,'' he said.

While Woods had one eye on Augusta, he also managed to stay in the present. When he finished his short-game work Monday morning, he teed up a ball in the middle of the chipping area and took one last swing, this time with a 3-wood.

The ball sailed over the palms, curved gently away from a corporate hospitality area and landed in the middle of the range. Fifteen minutes later, when it counted, Woods hit a similar shot with the same club. This one found the middle of the 10th fairway, and the 7-iron that followed spun back to 2 inches from the cup for a tap-in birdie that sent him on his way.

The victory was important to Woods because the tournament is widely considered the fifth major, and the only one he had not already won. He joined Jack Nicklaus as the only men to win the Grand Slam and The Players Championship.

Was a victory critical to his chances at Augusta?

No.

Does it give him some serious momentum going into The Masters with a chance to become the first player in history to hold all four major championships at the same time?

Not really.

"Whether I win or not, it's not going to change the way I prepare, or change the way I feel about my chances,'' Woods said.

When asked about his game going into The Masters -- as if back-to-back victories for the seventh time in his career was not indication enough -- Woods said he was pleased.

"My practice sessions this week have been pretty good,'' he said. "My short game ... I'm pretty happy with it. I'm headed in the right direction, no doubt about that. It's nice to see a lot of hard work paying off.''

The final preparations will take place this week at Isleworth, his private club outside Orlando where the greens are running close to 14 on the Stimpmeter. Woods will not have the distractions of winning a tournament or hitting into an island that passes as a par 3.

He learned at an early age how to prepare for the biggest tournaments, even before he turned pro and the only major on the landscape was the U.S. Junior Amateur, and later the U.S. Amateur. He won them both three years in a row.

"I was able to peak for them,'' Woods said. "It's learning how to get your mind and body ready for that one week.''

There are four weeks now, but for the moment, only one week matters.

Whether Woods can make history at The Masters will be determined next week. He can at least say he was ready.

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