Tiger Woods

NEW YORK -- Tiger Woods' former swing coach thinks the 14-time major winner's chances at the Masters next week depend on his putter.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Tiger Woods finally brought the buzz back to the very thing that made him famous -- winning.

In 100 days or so, the U.S. Open begins at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. In a month, the Masters begins at ... well, the same place as always.

Can we possibly ratchet up the anticipation any higher?

Sunday's final round of the Honda Classic did more than coronate sweet-swinging Rory McIlroy as the new No. 1 player in the world. It did more than serve as a loud reminder that Tiger Woods still owns a special gear.

MARANA, Ariz. -- Tiger Woods must be mellowing with age.

There was a time when a comment from his opponent in the Match Play Championship, even tongue-in-cheek, would be an extra bit of motivation that Woods didn't need. Most famous at this event was in 2006, when Stephen Ames was asked about playing Woods and said that anything could happen, adding with a big smile, "Especially where he's hitting it."

Far from it.

The feature match in the opening session Thursday at Royal Melbourne took on qualities of a sideshow when captains Fred Couples and Greg Norman allowed Woods to be placed opposite his jilted caddie in the Presidents Cup.

"I think it's great for the tournament," Norman said. "It needed to be done."

It was 15 years ago this week that Tiger Woods made his professional debut in Milwaukee, stepping to the podium with the words "Hello, World" and winning twice in his first seven starts.

That was only the start of a dizzying ride -- one that includes 69 other PGA Tour wins, 14 majors, a wraparound Grand Slam, bouts with injuries and the sex scandal that brought so much crashing down 21 months ago.

Asked on Golf Channel's "Morning Drive" what advice he might have told his younger self that day in Milwaukee, Woods was direct: "Life is very difficult."

Given the circumstances of a most peculiar year, the slogan of the final major -- "Glory's Last Shot" -- might not apply to Tiger Woods.

In some respects, the PGA Championship is more like a fresh start.

This is the seventh time in his 15 years on tour that Woods has come to the last major of the year without having made any progress toward the record that matters the most to him -- the 18 professional majors won by Jack Nicklaus.