Tiger Woods Closes in on Eighth Straight PGA Victory

At times, Tiger Woods must feel he is playing against the legends of the game, as opposed to his contemporaries. So easy was his second-round match at the Accenture World Match Play Championships that the outcome was decided before he and his opponent - South African Tim Clark - could advance to the 15th tee box.

"I played better than I did yesterday, which is great," said Woods, although his Wednesday match, where he dispatched J.J. Henry (a Ryder Cup teammate), 3 & 2, could hardly have said to have been difficult, nor could Tiger have been said to have played poorly.

Still, the ease with which Tiger keeps winning tournaments - he's now won the last seven PGA events he has entered, which puts him only four wins shy of a record Byron Nelson set more than 60 years ago, during a four-month stretch of 1945.

And consider Tiger's 12 major championships, which again places him third all-time behind Jack Nicklaus (with 18 wins) and Bobby Jones (with 13). Nicklaus won his first major championship in 1962, and his 18th and final in 1986, while Bobby Jones won his 13 major championships in an amazing stretch of only 21 attempts. Tiger, by contrast, has won his 12 championships in 44 attempts, but has still managed to win those dozen in but a decade, leaving him his 30s (Tiger is only 31 years of age), a decade many consider to be a golfer's best years, to win the final six championships in order to tie Nicklaus' record.

So you'll have to forgive the average fan if Tiger is viewed as the prohibitive favorite, week-in and week-out. Especially at this year's Match Play Championships, which has seen a tumultuous first two rounds. So hectic, in fact, that Woods now stands alone as the only remaining player originally seeded in the top eight.

But Woods, whose greatness is perhaps matched only by his drive to be great, will surely see more than a few stumbling blocks on his way to an eighth straight PGA victory.