Mar20 Tiger streak

There are 78 players at this World Golf Championship, and one guy playing out of this world.

Tiger Woods is winning at a rate not seen in more than a half-century. Bay Hill was his sixth straight victory around the world among official tournaments, and he is the three-time defending champion this week at the CA Championship.

“He inhales so many wins that there’s not much breathing room for the rest of us,” Stewart Cink said.

Even a player lined up to get his autograph Wednesday.

Boo Weekley stood behind the 18th green as Woods and Jim Furyk finished an abbreviated practice round at Doral in 30 mph wind. He was holding two flags, from the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which Woods won with a 25-foot birdie on the last hole; and from the Accenture Match Play Championship, which Woods won by a record 8-and-7 margin in the final round.

It was for charity, although the scene spoke volumes.

There is a sense of awe among Woods’ peers during a stretch of golf that rivals Byron Nelson’s golden season of 1945, when he won 11 straight events and 18 out of 30. And there is determination not to let this domination continue.

“It’s a great time to be playing,” Adam Scott said. “It’s awfully hard to beat him, but he doesn’t play every week. I know he’s winning all the time, but he doesn’t win every week, either.”

Then the 27-year-old Australian paused long enough that he couldn’t contain a wry smile.

“There’s no proof of that,” Scott said. “But we’ll try to change it this week.”

The bookmakers don’t like the chances of the other 78 guys on the Blue Monster at Doral. Woods was listed as a 2-3 favorite on one Web site, staggering odds for a sport in which players have no control over the competition and the hole is only 4 1/2 inches in diameter.

Next in line is Phil Mickelson at 15-1.

There’s a reason for that. Woods has won at Doral the last three years, the first two when it was a full-field PGA Tour event. He has won this World Golf Championship six of eight years, the first five when it was called the American Express Championship and played around the world. His two-shot victory last year made him the first player to win the same event on six golf courses.

And there is no indication that Woods is about to let up.

Walking down the eighth fairway, caddie Steve Williams was asked how he spent Monday after Bay Hill.

“Practice,” he said as he kept walking.

What about Tuesday?

“Practice,” Williams said, adding after a few more steps, “but not as much.”

Woods might be the only guy not wrapped up in his streak, the longest he has gone in his career without losing. He counts it as seven, including his unofficial Target World Challenge against a field of 16. But everything is geared toward four weeks a year, starting next month at the Masters.