Almost a Grand Year for Woods

How good was 2005 for Tiger Woods? He won six tournaments, two of them majors, and said there’s only one other year with which it can compare -- 2000, when he won nine tournaments, three of them majors.

Woods said he’s satisfied because he has managed to bounce back from his much-discussed swing changes.

“To make all the changes we’ve made the past couple years and to have this type of contention in major championships again, that’s ultimately where I want to be,” he said. “I want to be there on the back nine in every major with a chance to win it. This year, I was in all four.”

Woods won the Masters and the British Open, was second to Michael Campbell at the U.S. Open and fourth behind winner Phil Mickelson at the PGA Championship. And besides the six tournaments he won, he was second in four others.

Meanwhile, the Woods cash machine keeps on cranking. Besides winning his sixth PGA Tour money title with a career-best $10.628 million, Woods made $715,000 for finishing second behind Bart Bryant at the Tour Championship and an extra $200,000 bonus for being third in the so-called Fall Finish -- reflecting performances in the last eight tournaments of the year.

This week, Woods is in Shanghai for the $5-million HSBC Championship -- officially the first event of the 2006 European Tour -- collecting a $1-million appearance fee, then he’ll be in Japan for another tournament and another $1-million appearance fee.

If you add it up, that’s $2.915 million in three weeks and it doesn’t even include what he will win in China and Japan. The rest of Woods’ schedule this year is the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, the Skins Game and his Target World Challenge, Dec. 8-11, at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks.

Not only has Woods won six money titles in his nine years as a pro, he also has won his sixth Vardon Trophy for the lowest adjusted scoring average.

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He probably doesn’t want to be reminded, but Retief Goosen had another last-day meltdown at a big-money tournament at the Tour Championship. He shot 74 and tied for fifth, 10 shots behind Bryant, after beginning the round in second place, three shots from the lead.

Goosen had a three-shot lead at Pinehurst on Sunday at the U.S. Open, but shot 81. And at the British Open, he was three shots behind after three rounds, but wound up with a 74 and tied for fifth.

A possible solution for Goosen: Pretend it’s Saturday.

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It’s all over except for the accounting, and the big winner is Nick Price, who skipped the Southern Farm Bureau Classic and still finished 125th on the money list. That’s the final spot for full exemptions into 2006 tournaments.

Price was $2,545 ahead of Briny Baird, who was 126th despite playing in 33 tournaments compared with only 16 for Price.

Also missing the top 125 cutoff, from 127-130, were Nick Watney, Kirk Triplett, Ben Curtis and Michael Allen. Curtis is the 2003 British Open champion, so he’s exempt through 2008.

Just inside the mark of the top 125 were John Huston, Ryuji Imada, Tommy Armour III, Kent Jones and No. 124 Craig Parry.

Players from No. 126 to 150 are partially exempt for 2006.

Duffy Waldorf, from Northridge and UCLA, fell from 150th to 153rd the last week, wound up with $462,725 in 28 tournaments and missed being in the top 125 for the first time since 1990.

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Natalie Gulbis may be more well known for both of her provocative swimsuit calendars or her friendship with Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback Ben Roethlisberger than she is for her golf, but that’s bound to change now that something really big has happened -- her own reality show.

The “Natalie Gulbis Show” makes its debut Tuesday on the Golf Channel.

According to the Golf Channel, the premiere episode is a behind-the-scenes peek into Gulbis’ life, including a barbecue and a tour of her home at Lake Las Vegas. The second show features “a wild crew on the set of her 2006 swimsuit calendar photo shoot.”

She also avoids “potential hair tragedy” when a hair care product “malfunction” threatens her “trademark blonde locks.” Stay tuned.

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There’s already fallout from the 2007 PGA Tour schedule, even though the entire schedule hasn’t been announced yet. The Presidents Cup has been moved back a week, to Sept. 27-30, allowing an extra week between the Tour Championship and the biennial team match-play event. The 2007 Tour Championship is the last tournament of the FedEx Cup, a season-long points race, and the final event of a four-event Championship Series.

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The USGA now says the previously approved distance measure devices (range finders) aren’t going to be used at its championships or qualifying rounds in 2006, but that state and local golf associations, tournament committees and individual courses are free to allow them under the new local rule that permits their use.