Woods had to work at Blue Monster
He also is getting plenty of help.
Woods won the Ford Championship at Doral in unlikely fashion on Sunday, bogeying his last two holes to turn a seemingly comfortable situation into a one-shot victory.
In doing so, he became the first player in 25 years to win back-to-back on the Blue Monster.
While that clear victory ended a peculiar streak that saw Woods gain his last four wins in playoffs, he had to work harder than he expected.
Woods was in the 17th fairway, 116 yards from the hole, with a two-shot lead and a wedge in his hand. He flew the green and made bogey, then had to face the most daunting hole on the Blue Monster.
David Toms made it easier for him.
Woods was in the right rough when he saw Toms hit a 60-foot birdie putt across the green that dipped 10 feet below the hole, then missed it coming back for his only three-putt of the tournament.
Suddenly, Woods' lead was back to two shots and that changed his strategy on a 9-iron from 170 yards in the rough to a green protected by water.
"I just said, 'Anything in the back bleachers, right bleachers, just anything over there to the right and over the water was all I had to do'," Woods said. "I was just trying to play for 5. I wasn't even trying to make par."
Bogey was all he needed. Woods closed with a 3-under 69 to hold off Toms and Colombian rookie Camilo Villegas, giving him three victories in his first five tournaments of the year.
Does it help when other players alleviate some of the pressure?
"You think?" Woods said with a laugh.
Woods won the American Express Championship last October when John Daly missed a 3-foot par putt on the second playoff hole.
He won the Buick Invitational in the second hole of a playoff, after Jose Maria Olazabal missed a 4-foot par putt down the slope.
And he won in Dubai in a playoff when Ernie Els hit into the water and made bogey.
Even so, Woods has done his share of the heavy lifting.
"I look at it this way I put myself there," Woods said. "If I put myself there enough times, those things are going to happen, as well as other guys are going to make birdies to beat me. That's the way it goes. As long as I'm there each and every time, it's not a bad place to be."
Leading the tournament is never a bad place to be, especially when the lead belongs to Woods.
He enhanced his reputation as golf's best closer by improving to 34-3 on the PGA Tour when he has at least a share of the 54-hole lead, and he's 20-0 when his lead is at least two shots going into the final round.
Woods finished at 20-under 268 for his 48th career victory on the PGA Tour, and the 13th time he has successfully defended his title. Toms refused to beat himself up for a bogey on the 18th hole, which always gives him trouble because of its length and the wind that came off the left. He only regrets knowing the score.
The former PGA champion kept his eyes off the leaderboard while making his move, even after birdies on the 10th and 11th holes brought him to within one shot. He trailed by as many as three shots on the back nine, but the energy from the crowd indicated he was still in range.
From a good lie in the rough on the 18th, Toms had four iron to the green and could not afford to take on the flag. His putt was impossible, running away from him over a slight crown toward the water.
Toms said NBC analyst Mark Rolfing told him he was only one shot down, and that Woods had hit his drive in the rough. Suddenly, a 60-foot putt got even tougher.
"I wasn't even nervous all day because I'm trying to catch the guy," Toms said. "All of a sudden, I've got a putt all the way across the green, big break, and I'm nervous because I'm just trying to two-putt. That's my mistake. But if I had been looking at it all day, then maybe I would have felt that way all the way through the back nine."
Villegas, the 24-year-old darling of this prominently Latino gallery, had far more fun. He made a brief run at Woods with an eagle on the first, and birdies on the sixth and seventh to get within two. He was still three shots behind when he got to the 18th tee, and realised his chances were remote.
"We are talking here about the best player in the world," Villegas said. "I played well. I had fun."
No matter how it finished, the outcome was in Woods' capable hands.
He needed to make birdies to hold his position, and holed putts of 10 feet on the first, four feet on the fifth and six feet on the seventh hole. When Toms cut the lead down to one, Woods answered with a 12-foot birdie on the 11th, then a 3-wood that splashed out of a bunker and onto the green on the 603-yard 12th for a two-putt birdie.
Woods led by as many as three on the back nine until messing up the 17th. He went from needing to make birdies to only having to make bogey. This is the fifth time he has won at least twice before going to Augusta National.
"I've put myself there in virtually every event, which is nice," Woods said.
