Tiger's on a Major title trail

13 April 2012

Back home in Isleworth, about a three-hour drive south of this Atlantic resort, the mantelpiece above Tiger Woods's fireplace is already heaving with trophies marking his victories in six Majors.

There's a silver replica of the clubhouse at Augusta presented for his 1997 Masters win, two US PGA awards, another celebrating last summer's emphatic US Open triumph, a Claret Jug from the Millennium Open at St Andrews, and an engraving specially commissioned to honour Woods's three successive US Amateur titles.

By any standard it is an impressive collection, but one that is not yet complete. With a nod and a wink that hinted at serious intent, the world's best golfer today revealed: "There is room for one more."

He wasn't talking about the cut-glass vase that accompanied a cheque made out in the sum of £770,000, the double-haul he carried away for defeating Vijay Singh by one stroke in the Players Championship here.

Instead, Woods will set out for Georgia next week with his sights firmly set on claiming the second Masters trophy that will leave him in possession of all four professional Major titles at the same time.

The record book shows that no man has won the Players and the Masters back-to-back. Yet just as Woods confounded the myth of his so-called 'slump' by winning twice in the last fortnight - at Bay Hill and now here at Sawgrass - so he is gearing up to beat the Masters jinx that apparently attaches itself to the Players victor.

"That's just the way it is," said the 25-year-old American who now handles himself with the composure and maturity of someone twice that age.

He added: "A lot of guys have played well here and just haven't played well at Augusta. That's part of the game. You try as hard as you can and sometimes it isn't going to work."

The reality is nearly everything about Woods's game is working right now. Others may have questioned his form during the six months in which he went without a win on the US Tour, but Woods never let that run affect his focus on the bigger picture - that of gearing up for the Majors.

After carding a five-under-par final round of 67 for a 14 under, he said: "It wasn't like I was missing cuts every week. I was right there with a chance to win in virtually every tournament I teed up in, and that's pretty good."

So is he peaking for Augusta? Woods considered the enormity of the challenge that lies before him next week and quietly replied: "I feel that I am headed in the right direction, no doubt about that.

"It's nice to see a lot of hard work paying off. I'm pleased with the shots I've been working on for Augusta.

"The most important thing there is control of your trajectory, and hopefully that will get better when I practice again this week."

Singh was man enough to acknowledge that a successful Masters defence will rest on a practice regime every bit as intense as Woods's.

The course here is only five miles from his house and the tall Fijian was aiming to return this morning with the aim of ironing out the kind of mis-take at the 14th hole in yesterday's rain-delayed final round that might have kept that vase from falling into his opponent's possession.

Singh could only kick at his driver in frustration after a failed attempt at a fade over a lake resulted in the ball going into the water and triple bogey seven going up on the scoreboard.

After slipping back into second place one shot ahead of the impressive Bernhard Langer, Singh said: "I made one bad swing, and that is all it took, but every time you are in contention you learn something.

"I just hope I have learned something from that shot on 14. Under the gun you know you cannot make mistakes. That's the bottom line."

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