Woods Has Plans for Quick Start

Tiger Woods arrived with only the bottom half of his goatee remaining, changed into golf shoes and was quickly out of sight.

Carts are allowed for the practice rounds at the Mercedes Championships, and about 50 fans had no chance of keeping up with him on the hilly Plantation Course at Kapalua. Taking a shortcut on the back nine and playing only six holes, Woods finished in 40 minutes.

Perhaps that kind of pace will set the tone for a new season.

“It’s always important to win early,” Woods said. “It’s important to play well because it makes you feel better about the season.”

It also eliminates foolish talk about a slump, which is what Woods had to endure last year until winning his first tournament at Bay Hill in March.

A year ago, Woods was coming off one of the greatest years in sports, winning nine PGA Tour events and three consecutive majors. The question was whether that would become a typical season or an exceptional one.

It looks now to be an exception, although that could change.

“I think it would be very difficult to accomplish that again,” British Open champion David Duval said. “But I think he’s capable of it.”

Added Shigeki Maruyama: “He still plays in another world.”

It all starts today along the rugged coastline of west Maui, where 32 PGA Tour winners gather for the season-opening Mercedes Championships.

U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen came halfway around the world from South Africa, meaning all four major champions are in the field. The only two winners who didn’t show were Phil Mickelson, who wants to spend time with his family, and Jose Coceres, who broke his arm playing soccer a couple of weeks ago in Argentina.

As for the young, emerging stars who are supposed to be challenging Woods, only two are here--Sergio Garcia and David Gossett, the former U.S. Amateur champion who won the John Deere Classic.

And while the gap on Woods appears to have closed, he is still the guy to beat. He had a year that would define careers for most everyone else at Kapalua.

“I guess he stunk, didn’t he? Maybe he should think about other career opportunities,” Duval said mockingly about a season in which Woods won five tour events, including a historic Masters that made him the only player to hold all four major titles at the same time.

PGA TOUR

What: The 50-event PGA Tour opens today.

First up: The Mercedes Championships in Kapalua, Hawaii, a 72-hole event running today through Sunday. The event will be televised on ESPN (today, 5-7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 4:30-7:30 p.m., and Sunday, 1:30-4:30 p.m.) and ESPN2 (Sunday, 8-11 a.m.)

Local stops: The tour schedule includes four events in Southern California--Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, Jan. 16-20 at La Quinta; Buick Invitational, Feb. 7-10, at Torrey Pines, San Diego; Nissan Open, Feb. 14-17, at Riviera; and WGC-Accenture Match Play Championships at La Costa.