Woods aiming to make it six from six

Tiger Woods stood next to the eighth tee box, staring down a cliff at the raging surf on another postcard day at Pebble Beach. Caddie Steve Williams came up from behind, grabbed his arms and pretended to toss him over.

It was one of several light moments on the day before the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Woods's next stop on a PGA Tour winning streak that started in August and at times looks as if it may never end.

Williams might have given the rest of the field an idea -- throwing Woods over a cliff might be the best blueprint for stopping him.

Right now, nothing else seems to be working.

Ernie Els played better in Hawaii and couldn't win. Miguel Angel Jimenez had a hometown crowd behind him -- and against Woods - in Spain and couldn't pull it off.

"It's going to take somebody to stuff it in his face a couple of times coming down the stretch to knock him off," said Davis Love III, who had his crack at Woods in the Tour Championship and finished four strokes behind.

A victory this week would be Woods's sixth straight on the PGA Tour -- the longest since Ben Hogan won six in 1948 -- and would move Woods one step closer to the record of 11 in a row set by Byron Nelson in 1945.

No one in the last 47 years has won this many in a row. A streak this long in today's era of so many talented players is bordering on absurd, but no one will go so far as to say it's impossible -- not when it involves Woods.

"Everything you said wasn't quite possible, he has pretty much done," Love said.

Butch Harmon, Woods's coach the past seven years, has seen the swing evolve into a piece of art the past 20 months. What hasn't changed is Woods's desire to win, usually with style.

"He likes the theater," Harmon said. "He likes to be the man."

Woods, meanwhile, is trying to play down all the hype surrounding his streak. He declined to come into the interview room today, instead holding court for five minutes behind the 18th green, where he had just lost a $100 bet.

It was alternate shot on the final hole with the caddies, and Williams hurt the cause by hitting the tee shot some 75 yards into a hazard.

This is Woods's first tournament since he went eagle-birdie-birdie to win the Mercedes Championships over Els on the second playoff hole, only his second event of the year.

And he is quick to remind people that he did play a European Tour event at the end of last year, the Johnnie Walker Classic in Taiwan, and finished sixth.

"I don't know if it's six or not," he said. "I'm just counting that I've won once this year and trying to win two in a row," he said.

He will agree on this much -- his swing is pure and his confidence is in orbit.

"It is pretty high right now because obviously I've had a lot of success lately," he said. "More importantly, I know how to get it around when I'm not playing that well. There were times when I didn't play that well and I was able to get the round in under par, just kind of hang in the tournament. And I was able to go to win."

It may take more than that in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, which will be played with amateurs over three courses the first three rounds, with no guarantee there will be a fourth round.

A year ago, Payne Stewart won without hitting a shot in the final round. It was washed out by rain -- the third time in four years rain kept the tournament from going the distance.

Woods had planned to play with Michael Jordan, but that fell apart when Jordan bought part of the Washington Wizards and became head of basketball operations.

"He can't get off work, even though he's the boss," Woods said.

Instead, Woods and Stanford buddy Jerry Chang will be partners, paired with Mark O'Meara and Ken Griffey Jr.

With a $4 million purse -- the same amount as last year's Masters -- Pebble Beach has its strongest field ever.

All of them will be gunning for the same guy -- Woods.

"He is doing some things that are slightly better than the rest of us," Love said. "We have to try to figure out what that is."

Harmon spent today observing his star pupil, arms crossed as he stood behind him and checked out his swing plane. Woods had problems turning the ball over from right to left, but even his misses were worth keeping.

"It's an ongoing process," Harmon said. "We're happy with where everything is, and it can get a lot better."

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