Golf: Tiger hunt can be impossible task for the rest

Tiger Woods' playoff victory at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational will have left fellow golfers Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els and company scratching their heads.

The world No 1 clinched his 52nd career title on the PGA Tour despite playing his 'C' game over the last two rounds at Firestone Country Club.

Granted, he opened with impressive scores of 67 and 64.

But when it came to the business end of the tournament, Woods battled off the tee, struggled with his distance control and was erratic with his putting touch.

Although he sank a couple of lengthy birdie putts early on the back nine in the final round, he ultimately won his fifth title in his last seven starts at Firestone through strength of mind.

After Saturday's third round, when he dropped four shots in a row for the first time in a decade on the PGA Tour, he knew his game was failing him and that he needed to will himself to victory.

"I figured my body took me out of the tournament and my mind will bring me back into the tournament," he said.

"That's what I tried to do."

His mental efforts did the trick.

Despite missing seven of 14 fairways in the final round and needing 30 putts, his highest tally of the week, he survived a roller-coaster day by outlasting fellow American Stewart Cink at the fourth extra hole.

Mickelson finished well down the field in a tie for 54th, Singh shared 45th place and Els fell back into joint 31st after closing with a 78.

All three will be wondering what is required to beat Woods in the game's biggest events. The statistics make grim reading.

While Woods has claimed 12 major titles and is two-thirds of the way to matching the record 18 achieved by his childhood idol Jack Nicklaus, Mickelson, Els and Singh have a combined tally of nine.

While Woods stands joint fifth with Byron Nelson in the all-time PGA Tour standings with 52 career wins, Mickelson and Singh both have 29 and Els just 15.

When it comes to the World Golf Championships (WGC) events, one rung down from the four majors, the comparison is downright embarrassing.

Woods has won 11 individual WGC titles in just 21 starts. Mickelson, Els and Singh have only one victory between them. Els claimed the 2004 WGC-American Express Championship in Ireland.

In a nutshell, the problem faced by Woods' closest rivals is fairly simple. If Woods plays his 'A' game, then that week's tournament has his name written all over it right from the start.

If he drops down a gear to his 'B' game, he is still likely to win although the best of the rest have a slim chance of upstaging him.

Should Woods battle with his 'C' game, then the tournament is thrown wide open but the world No 1 must still be watched closely.

Five years ago when Woods became the first professional in history to hold all four majors at the same time, former world No 1 Nick Price succinctly expressed the challenge faced by his rivals.

"When Tiger is playing well, he is going to win," Price told Reuters.

"If Tiger plays well and the other guys play well, he is going to win. It's as simple as that."

Following the second successful revamp of the Woods swing since he turned professional in 1996, very little has changed.

After he won this month's PGA Championship at Medinah, fellow American Shaun Micheel said: "He's going to be dominating whether he's playing well or not.

"Tiger has a unique ability to play well when he thinks he's not playing well.

"We all kind of smirk and laugh when he says he's got his 'B' game, but that's better than most of our 'A' games. He's just that good."

- REUTERS