New Tiger still has major problems

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Tiger Woods, center, receives the trophy from Rob Forsyth, AT&T Mobility vice president and general manager, after winning the AT&T National golf tournament at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., Sunday, July 1, 2012. (PATRICK SEMANSKY/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES)

BETHESDA, Md. -- For all the endless parallels between the so-called new Tiger Woods and the old one, this was one comparison he didn't mind.

Winning at Congressional made it seem like 2009 all over again.

Woods returned from a significant leg injury back then amid questions whether he could be the same golfer he once was. He answered by winning Bay Hill, Memorial and the AT&T National in the first half of the season, and he wound up winning six times on the PGA Tour, seven worldwide.

This time, he is coming off a year in which he sat out three months and two majors to allow left leg injuries to fully heal. Halfway through the season, he has won those same three tournaments, so perhaps he is headed toward another year like 2009.

"Well, I had a good year that year. I think I won six times that year. That would be nice if I could get that same total," Woods said, pausing to smile before adding, "with a couple of majors in there."

Therein lies the difference -- and the challenge.

It's all about the majors, isn't it?

PGA Tour events should not be dismissed. Congressional was tougher than it was for the U.S. Open last year. An argument could be made that no other golf course on U.S. soil did a better job identifying who played the best that week. It was the 74th career win for Woods, moving him past Jack Nicklaus into second place, leaving him only eight tour wins short of Sam Snead's record.

Even so, that's one of the few times Woods and Nicklaus are mentioned together when the topic is not major championships.

Majors are said to be the toughest to win, though that can be debated. The conditions tend to be so extreme they expose and eliminate those who don't have full control of their game and their emotions. That's what Phil Mickelson suggested in 2001 at the PGA Championship when he was frustrated by not having won a major at that point in his career, and Adam Scott raised the same point early last week at Congressional.

"I still think majors are every good player's best opportunity to win a tournament," Scott said.

Woods has not been a factor in the first two majors, another parallel to 2009. He tied for 40th at the Masters, and after sharing the 36-hole lead in the U.S. Open, he stumbled on the weekend and tied for 21st. While his performance looked OK on paper in 2009, he was never a factor in the first two majors -- seven shots behind going into the last round at Augusta National, nine shots out of the lead on the last day at Bethpage Black.

The next stop for Woods is Royal Lytham & St. Annes, but not before he heads to The Greenbrier Classic this week in West Virginia.

The odds makers have installed Woods as the favourite for the British Open, just as they did for the Masters and the U.S. Open. And it's still a good bet.

-- The Associated Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 3, 2012 C7