DORAL, Fla. (AP) — Tiger Woods holed a birdie putt from 50 feet across the 12th green at Cog Hill. He twice nearly lost in the early rounds of Match Play, making 90 feet of putts against J.B. Holmes, and getting a second chance when Aaron Baddeley missed a 12-foot eagle putt on the 19th hole.
And don't forget Bay Hill, where Woods made a 25-foot putt on the final hole that his caddie said had a 1-in-15 chance of going in.
Even greatness in golf requires good fortune, and Woods had plenty during his latest winning streak.
That ran out at Doral, and so did a streak that began in September. Woods didn't make anything on Saturday, when he fell five shots behind Geoff Ogilvy, and he didn't make enough on Sunday and Monday, finishing two shots behind.
"People don't really understand you need to have something happen, a positive thing happen to you out there in order to win tournaments," Woods said. "I heard Geoff bladed one in the hole for par. That's what you need to have happen. Those are the things that have happened to me, and things weren't going that way this week."
Even with the streak over, it is no less amazing how much Woods wins relative to his peers.
Among active players, Woods, Vijay Singh and David Duval are the only ones to have strung together at least three straight victories.
Duval closed out his 1997 season with three straight wins. Singh won three straight during his nine-win season in 2004. Woods has done it five times — two streaks ended at three wins, one at five, one at six, one at seven.
"It was going to end at some point," Ogilvy said after stopping the latest PGA Tour streak at five.
Ogilvy's only frustration was players being labeled as failures at the expense of Woods winning so much.
"It's fun to watch the streak and it's fun to watch the fans get so excited about stuff," Ogilvy said. "The frustrating thing is that people think that we're not trying and we're flying the white flag. I don't think that's true in any case, really."
TRIVIA TIME: There have been seven winning streaks of at least three PGA Tour events since 1997. Name the only player who has ended those streaks more than once. Answer below.
CUTTING BACK: Jim Furyk already has played eight times, and he now embarks on the busiest time of his year. Furyk said he will have no more than one week off at a time through the end of the Tour Championship the last weekend in September, which has made him determined to cut back.
But where?
"The issue we have now is there's a lot of good events, and when they're crammed together, I've really struggled making my schedule," Furyk said. "It used to be easy. All those events in the fall, I only played one on the schedule (Las Vegas). Those other events were sprinkled in, and those were my weeks off. From now, I don't have a two-week break in the schedule unless I get hurt."
He is playing New Orleans because he does not want a two-week break before the Masters. His favorite tracks are Hilton Head, Colonial, Memorial and the Buick Open, and there are can't-miss events like Wachovia, The Players Championship and AT&T National.
The British Open is the first of four straight weeks because he is the defending champion at the Canadian Open.
"I've got to cut somewhere, but I don't know where," Furyk said. "I'm playing a lot at events that I think are OK for my game, but I'm trying to not be worn out for the events I really love in summer. Next year, I'll do a better job. It should have taken me six months to figure it out, and it's taken my two years."
