DORAL, Fla. — Devouring courses that fit his eye, Tiger Woods is starting to look — and play — like the best player in the world again.
Don't expect his roll to slow, either, as two more of his favorite tracks are on tap — Bay Hill and Augusta National.
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Although the Masters is exactly a month away, Woods stamped himself as a favorite to win a fifth green jacket with his second authoritative win of the season Sunday at Trump Doral Resort. Despite two inconsequential bogeys in his last three holes, the world No. 2 polished off his 76th PGA Tour win with a final-round 1-under-par 71 at the TPC Blue Monster to beat Steve Stricker by two shots.
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With rounds of 66-65-67-71, Woods finished at 19-under 269. He made 27 birdies, one shy of his record for a tournament. He needed just 100 putts, a career low. And now has five PGA Tour wins in the last 50 weeks. And for the first time in five years he has two wins before the Masters.
"That's how I know I can play," Woods said. "To bring it out a couple times this year has been nice. Anytime I can win prior to Augusta feels good."
It was Woods' fourth win at Doral and his seventh in the tournament. He won the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines earlier this season for the seventh time, and he also won the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.
In all, he's won four events seven times. That includes the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where Woods will make his next start in two weeks. Last year Woods ended his 30-month drought on the Tour with his seventh win at Bay Hill. It will be his final start before the April 11-14 Masters.
Woods could regain the No. 1 ranking with a win at Bay Hill.
"He's been playing like this for quite some time," said Phil Mickelson, who shot 71 to finish in a tie for third with Sergio Garcia (69), Adam Scott (64) and Graeme McDowell (72). "He's pretty strong. He's playing at a very high level, week in, week out."
Stricker is seeing the same thing.
"His attitude and what I saw this week and his belief in himself again looks very similar to when he was, you know, in the early 2000s, or you can pick any year, I guess, when he was playing great," Stricker said. "He just seems in a better place mentally. He seems to be having fun. And he seems to have a lot of confidence in himself and his game."
Stricker, one of the nicest guys on the PGA Tour, or anywhere, for that matter, might have a few enemies after giving Woods a putting tip Wednesday night. Woods said the 45-minute session centered on his posture.
But Stricker has no regrets.
"He might have putted just as good without my help, who knows?" Stricker said. "But you know, he's happy, he feels really good about what he's doing on the greens, and so that's a good thing, even though he's going to clip me by a couple shots."
Woods, who has now won 40 of 42 tournaments when he took the outright lead into the final round, was in just as much control with all his other clubs. He was shaping his shots both ways, controlling his trajectory and dialing in his distance control.
"He's got the ball under control now," said McDowell, who played in the last group with Woods. "He knows exactly what his golf swing is going to produce. His iron play was stunning. Short game, obviously he putted really well this week. He's just playing very, very well."
Woods won't use the word dominate. Instead, he just wants to continue the process of improving. His confidence jumped last year when he won at Bay Hill, Muirfield Village and Congressional. Now with wins this year at Torrey Pines and Doral, his confidence is soaring.
"I felt that towards the end of last year that I was heading in the direction where things were becoming better," Woods said. "I look at the three venues that I won last year, were all three are very good golf courses, and you know, I think winning at Torrey and then winning here, my five wins, I've been on some pretty tough tracks.
"(The three 2012 wins) gave me so much confidence heading into the offseason that I was heading in the right direction. Just keep going, keep plugging along, keep working with the things that Sean (Foley) wants me to do, and lo and behold, I've had two really good weeks this year."
Chip-in: Rory McIlroy will remain No. 1 in the world — and he finally started playing like the top-ranked player. After a dismal start to the season, which included an abrupt withdrawal midway through last week's Honda Classic, McIlroy put three solid rounds together. After an opening 73, he fired 69-71 and a final-round 65. In his last 26 holes, he made 10 birdies and one eagle.
"I think most of you guys know, I probably wear my heart on my sleeve a bit with my golf," he said. "If I have a bad round, it's sort of like the end of the world, but if I play a good one, I'm happy again.
"That's just the way it goes. I was pretty down about my game coming into this week, but a few days like I've played, you know, it does my confidence a world of good."
Collected from:http://www.usatoday.com
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