Woods has his sights on another Tiger Slam

It’s almost time to flip the golf calendar to 2007, which can mean only one thing: Is it too early to talk about another Tiger Slam? Maybe not, says Tiger Woods, who is already thinking about it.

“You’ve got to keep plugging along and make sure you peak at the right time,” Woods said. “Augusta is obviously a long way away, but it’s still in the back of all our minds. The whole idea is to play well leading up to the tournament and have your game peak at the right time that particular week. Hopefully, I’ll do the same thing at Oakmont” for the U.S. Open.

Woods started the year with a victory and ended it the same way. From along the cliffs at Torrey Pines to the cozy mountains at Sherwood Country Club, the topography and the results matched up anyway.

“Nice bookends,” he said.

Woods said goodbye to golf in 2006 by winning the tournament he hosts, the Target World Challenge, closing with a six-under-par 66 Sunday and claiming the $1.35-million winner’s check, which he immediately donated to his charitable foundation.

His rounds of 68-68-70-66 and total of 272 were 16 under par and four shots better than runner-up Geoff Ogilvy, who held a one-shot lead at the start of the day and finished with a 71, worth $840,000. Chris DiMarco shot a 71 and finished third to earn $570,000.

Woods birdied two of the first three holes. At the par-five second hole, Ogilvy caught a bad break with mud on his ball and wound up with a bogey that put him in a bad mood.

“It was a pretty smelly way to start,” said Ogilvy, who also had Woods on his mind.

“Maybe that’s why you never play well when he’s there because you try too hard to shoot a score. Golf is very hard when you’re trying to shoot a low score.”

Ogilvy three-putted the 14th for another bogey and when Woods birdied the par-five 16th, his lead was four shots. Ogilvy said there wasn’t much he could do.

“Financially, I guess it’s a success, but it’s still not a victory.”

Woods has won the last two majors, the British Open and the PGA Championship, so he will be halfway to a Tiger Slam when he shows up in April at Augusta, Ga., for the Masters, where he will probably be the heavy favorite to make it three straight, and that may also be the case at the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania in June.

Woods held all four major titles before, when he won the 2000 U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship and the 2001 Masters, establishing the so-called Tiger Slam.

Woods, who turns 31 on Dec. 30, ended his 10th full year on the PGA Tour with his 11th victory worldwide this year and his 50th overall, including unofficial events.

Woods also passed $81.6 million in career prize money and more than $13 million, official and otherwise, this year alone.

“He doesn’t have too many bad Sundays,” Ogilvy said.

Woods has been either first or second in every stroke play tournament he has entered since July, when he tied for second at the Western Open, a stretch of 11 consecutive events, winning seven of them, including the British Open and the PGA Championship.

He said what he accomplished this year surpassed 2000, when he won nine times on the PGA Tour, including three major championships.

“This year would have to be better because of things I’ve been dealing with off the golf course,” he said.

Woods’ father, Earl, died May 3 after a long battle with cancer. Woods, who won the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines and then again at Dubai, wouldn’t speculate what might have been if his father had been healthy.

“Hey, life is full of mysteries and you’ve got to deal with things as they come,” he said. “Who’s to know that if Dad didn’t struggle and end up passing that I wouldn’t have played that well in the summer. Who knows.”

On Sunday at Sherwood, Woods wasn’t in much trouble, almost from the start. He birdied the second and third holes and was ahead by two shots. After he birdied the seventh and ninth, he held a three-shot lead over DiMarco at the turn.

Woods played the par-five holes in three under, none more important than his birdie at the 537-yard 16th, when he cut a five wood and the ball embedded in a grassy bank.

He took a drop and, with an awkward stance in the bunker, chopped the ball onto the green and sank a 12-foot putt.

“I could easily have made a bogey there,” he said.

He birdied three of the five par-five holes and was eight under on the par fives for the week.

After he hoisted the trophy at the awards ceremony and finished his last round of interviews, Woods walked briskly toward the clubhouse, surrounded by security guards and followed by a group of fans holding photos and caps and programs for him to sign.

Never breaking stride, Woods raised his hand to his forehead and saluted. He was smiling broadly. He’s going skiing this week.

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Results

How the field finished Sunday at the Target World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks:

*--* Player Rounds Tot. 1. Tiger Woods 68-68-70-66 272 2. Geoff Ogilvy 68-70-67-71 276 3. Chris DiMarco 70-68-68-71 277 4. Henrik Stenson 66-71-73-69 279 t5. Colin Montgomerie 69-73-72-66 280 t5. Paul Casey 69-70-70-71 280 7. Michael Campbell 74-69-68-71 282 8. Padraig Harrington 75-67-70-71 283 9. David Toms 73-69-68-75 285 t10. Davis Love III 77-70-70-69 286 t10. Fred Couples 69-74-72-71 286 12. Luke Donald 76-74-72-71 293 13. David Howell 71-75-72-77 295 t14. Adam Scott 75-80-69-72 296 t14. J. Maria Olazabal 70-70-78-78 296 16. John Daly 69-71-77-80 297

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