THE TIMES 1993 SPRING ALL-COUNTY TEAMS : Western’s Woods Is a Steady Force : Player of the year: Junior golfer sparks team to third-place finish in league and wins section individual title.

Western’s Tiger Woods has competed against the best golfers on the PGA Tour, so you might think playing high school golf would be a bit of a letdown.

Woods, however, is not one to play down his competition.

“Every time he plays golf, he’s basically playing one hole at a time,” Western Coach Don Crosby said. “He’s not playing the competition; he is always playing his own game against the golf course.”

Despite a slump during which he played erratically--by his standards--at times, Woods, The Times Orange County player of the year, usually had the upper hand.

Consider:

* He won the Orange League title by nine strokes, despite shooting seven-over 79 at El Dorado Golf Course in the third round. The day before he shot eight-under 64 at the Long Beach Recreation Park course.

* He shot four-under 68 at Canyon Country Club in Palm Springs to win his second Southern Section individual championship in three years.

* He was five shots under par the entire season.

So far this year, Woods has played in three Tour events--the Los Angeles Open, the Byron Nelson Classic and the Honda Classic. He also helped hold together the Western team, which lost four seniors to graduation last year.

The team struggled at first, losing its first four or so matches, but recovered to finish 9-9 and third in the Orange League.

For Woods, high school golf continues to be a welcome break to the intensity of his golf ‘career.’

“The focus is different,” Woods said. “That’s about it . It would have to be. I don’t think I could use the same approach I use when I play the pros.”