Focus should be on Tiger Woods winning
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-08 09:14

Davis Love III used to take a beating for folding whenever Woods was atop the leaderboard. What rarely gets mentioned is that Love has never had the lead, or even been tied with Woods, going into the final round.

Perhaps his best chance was in the final of the Match Play Championship two years ago, when Love failed to convert several good birdie chances that let Woods off the hook. Was that the Tiger factor? That might have been more a product of Love, for he did the same thing this year at La Costa losing to Geoff Ogilvy.

Woods is a great closer because he rarely makes mistakes. And even when he stumbles — he fell flat on his face at Augusta National last year with back-to-back bogeys to fall into a playoff — he usually recovers.

It was at the Masters in 2002 when all the stars — Els, Mickelson, Goosen, Vijay Singh — made one mistake after another in a hopeless attempt to catch him.

"When other guys are up there, you know that if you can just stay around, there's a good chance they might come back two or three shots," Mickelson said that day. "But Tiger doesn't ever seem to do that. You know you have to make birdies to catch him."

Woods' average score in the final round when he wins is 68.6. Only five times has he won despite shooting over par in the final round, all but one of those occasions a major or World Golf Championship.

The mystique is returning not because his competition is folding.

It's because Woods is winning.