Focused

Arnold Palmer won 62 times on the PGA Tour, seven of them major championships, and at 77 he has evolved into the model pitchman for everything golf and beyond, selling products that range from mulch to wine to iced tea to furniture, golf courses, grass seed, apparel, watches, vodka, golf clubs, hearing aids, golf carts and motor oil.

But there’s something Palmer doesn’t need help in selling. That would be Tiger Woods, who does it himself, and probably never better than this year, in a season that caused even a hardened observer such as Palmer to shake his head in awe.

“What he did was separate himself from everyone else, once again,” Palmer said. “You saw it, like at the British Open. When anyone got close, he put some distance between them and was gone.

“And you know the real interesting part? I think he can get better. In fact I don’t question at all that he will get better.

“What a year Tiger had, with all he had to deal with, and how he triumphed. It’s a magnificent story.”

It’s a story in three parts, two of them about victory and the third about heartache.

This year Woods won the first PGA Tour event he played and he won the last six, but he also took two months off in between, because of the death in May of his father, Earl Woods. The passing of the elder Woods, the mentor, role model, confidant and the first teacher of his son, had a profound effect on Tiger Woods, who was deeply wounded, even though he thought he had prepared himself.

Like many before him, Woods might have been intellectually prepared, but he was not emotionally prepared.

In fact, when Woods decided he felt well enough to play again, he missed the cut at the U.S. Open, the first time he had done that in a major since he was a 20-year-old amateur at the 1996 Masters. A year later, Woods won the first of his four Masters titles, and by a record 12 shots.

So we should already have learned that Woods is adept at the comeback, a trait that would serve him well in his trying and triumphant year of golf and grieving that was 2006.

Tom Watson said the way Woods played, starting from his victory at Royal Liverpool, and continuing the rest of the year after the death of Earl Woods, clearly demonstrated the grip Tiger holds on professional golf.

“Let me put it this way,” said Watson, an eight-time major winner, “he’s the best player in golf who ever came down the pike. Even Jack Nicklaus would agree with that now.

“Whenever he’s in competition, in the lead, most people simply can’t beat him. Whether he’s so much better or has that aura of invincibility we don’t know, but we do know what we can see. My good friend Byron Nelson, who saw Tiger at 16, he said then ‘I see no weaknesses in his golf game.’ I don’t either.”

Woods himself says there is much he can improve upon, such as his driving, and becoming more consistent in his short game and with his putting. But he also said that there are apt comparisons between 2006 and his greatest year, 2000, when he won nine times on the PGA Tour and captured three major titles. In 2000 he won the U.S. Open by 15 shots, the British Open by eight and the PGA Championship in a playoff.

But the off-season, such as it is, approaches quickly. With the Target World Challenge, the last tournament of the year beginning today at Sherwood Country Club, Woods officially closes out his 30th year on Earth, one he said stands out like no other.

“The most difficult season I have ever had, no doubt about that.”

It actually began almost exactly a year ago, at the same course at Sherwood, where Woods hinted he planned to take time off to be with his ailing father. He spent days, which turned into weeks, at the family home in Cypress, where Tiger had grown up, sharing time with his father.

Woods finally played his first event of the year, the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines and won it in a playoff. He also won his next event, at Dubai, in a playoff. When he won the Ford Championship at Doral, Woods was picking up steam, but his father was slipping, and Woods wasn’t the same. Two days before the Players Championship in March, he flew from the tournament site in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., to Cypress, summoned by his mother, Kultida, to Earl’s bedside because of his deteriorating condition. Woods returned to Florida and tied for 22nd at the Players Championship. At the Masters in early April, he tied for third, but was unable to break 70.

That was Woods’ last tournament until the U.S. Open in June.

Earl Woods had a history of physical problems that began with a heart attack in 1996 when he had bypass surgery and recovered despite complications. Later, he developed diabetes.

He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1998 and underwent radiation treatment. Six years later, the cancer had returned and spread through his body.

On May 3, Earl died at his home, with Tiger at his side. Earl Woods was 74.

Tiger took two months off, and then showed up at Winged Foot to play the U.S. Open, probably the most grueling of the major championships. He wasn’t ready.

“I knew I had to go through the grieving process, and I had never done anything like that before. Everyone is different how long it takes to get out of it. I kept answering after I came back that the hardest thing for me to do was play golf. That’s dad. He introduced me to the game of golf. He taught me a lot of lessons of life on the golf course.

“So when I came back and started working on my fundamentals, who do you think I thought about? Who do you think I learned my fundamentals from? I learned them from my dad.

“I played as bad as I did at the U.S. Open, and to get it going after that, it was nice. I went back to the same things I was working on at the beginning of the year and they started clicking.”

You could say that. Woods played 10 stroke-play events worldwide after missing the cut at Winged Foot, won seven of them and was second in the other three. It was as complete a virtuoso performance as any stage has seen in a while.

Woods won in all sorts of ways. He had the best driving accuracy percentage of anyone at the British Open, where he won by hitting 85.7% of the fairways -- the best of any tournament winner all year. Two weeks later, Woods had the longest average driving distance at the Buick Open, where he won again by averaging 316 yards off the tee -- again the best by any tournament winner all year.

He played 15 PGA Tour events and won eight of them, a slightly better percentage than his landmark 2000 year in which he won nine of 20 PGA Tour events. He is far and away No. 1 in the Official World Ranking with a 20.85 point average. Jim Furyk is a distant second at 9.20.

Woods finished with his eighth PGA Tour player-of-the-year award, his seventh PGA Tour money title, and his seventh Byron Nelson Award for the lowest scoring average.

His explanation for his success is as simple as his swing.

“I am very competitive and I like to beat people.”

Nick Faldo, who has seen Woods up close for years, is not known for having difficulties in conversation, but he can’t believe what’s right before his eyes.

“It’s very difficult to use words to describe what Tiger does,” Faldo said. “Eight wins. Phenomenal. Two more majors. Unbeatable. The man is setting new standards, simple as that. He’s very much on track to beat Jack Nicklaus’ record. He won’t peak until he’s got Jack’s record.

“We all marvel at his swing, his physical strength, the way he plays the game, but his weapon is his strength, his mental strength. The guys have a lot of catching up to do.”

As for any separation between himself and the field, Woods wouldn’t address that topic specifically.

“My whole deal is just to get better and to keep pushing myself to get better each and every day. And along the way, I’ll win tournaments if I’m able to improve.

“Am I a better golfer right now than I was at the beginning of the year? If the answer is yes, it’s a successful year, because if I did that for the rest of my career -- great career.”

Woods didn’t hesitate when asked how many years he has been able to say he’s a better golfer at the end of them than at the beginning. “Every year.”

Palmer said it would be foolish to rule out Woods’ chances of passing Nicklaus’ record of 18 major titles, and was once again struck by how Woods, who now has 12 majors, handled himself after his father passed away.

“Everyone was saddened about his father, but what can you say? That is a very traumatic time. And when he came back at the U.S Open and things didn’t go so well, then the emotion he displayed when he won the British Open and talked about his dad, those are precious moments.”

They could turn out to be defining moments in a career that has offered many, and Woods admits that 2006 is a year in his life that he won’t easily forget. It’s simply not possible.

thomas.bonk@latimes.com

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

He’s No. 1

Tiger Woods dominated the PGA Tour in 2006, winning two major titles and six other tournaments:

2006 PGA TOUR EVENTS

Total appearances ...15

First place...8

Second place...1

Third place... 3

Top 10...11

Top 25... 13

Cuts made ...14

Scoring average ...68.11

Total earnings ...$9,941,563

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2006 MAJORS

Masters... Tied for 3rd

U.S. Open ... Missed cut

British Open ...Won

PGA ... Won

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Source: pgatour.com

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Target World Challenge

Pairings for today’s opening round in the Target World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club (all times Pacific, a.m.):

*--* 9:40 Fred Couples, Davis Love III 9:50 Chris DiMarco, David Toms 10:00 Luke Donald, Paul Casey 10:10 Colin Montgomerie, John Daly 10:20 Tiger Woods, Jose Maria Olazabal 10:30 Padraig Harrington, Michael Campbell 10:40 Adam Scott , Geoff Ogilvy 10:50 Henrik Stenson, David Howell

*--*

Source: Reuters

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A season to remember

Tiger Woods won 10 of the 20 tournaments he entered in 2006 (* PGA Tour events):

*--* Buick Invitational* 1st Dubai Desert Classic 1st Nissan Open* Withdrew WGC Accenture Match Play* T9th Ford Championship at Doral* 1st Bay Hill Invitational* T20th The Players Championship* T22nd Masters* T3rd U.S. Open* Missed cut Western Open* T2nd British Open* 1st Buick Open* 1st PGA Championship* 1st WGC Bridgestone Invitational* 1st Deutsche Bank Championship* 1st HSBC World Match Play T9th WGC American Express Champ.* 1st HSBC Champions 2nd Dunlop Phoenix 2nd PGA Grand Slam 1st

*--*

Source: tigerwoods.com