Losing to Tiger does have its rewards

GOLF: What do you think in this age of Tiger Woods? Are his fellow-professionals lucky to be born and playing in his time, or unlucky?

Certainly, Woods's dominance means it is infinitely tougher for his colleagues on tour to win majors, world golf championships or even regular tournaments.

But the flip-side is that, even if they are not winning titles, the amount of money Woods has attracted to the sport has meant players are getting richer without needing to actually win so frequently. Indeed, all you have to do is cast a glance at the PGA European Tour career earnings to see how well the most recent generation of golfers has done, much of it to do with the advent of Woods and the increased purses at tournaments.

When you take it that Seve Ballesteros, a master from a different time, accumulated career tour earnings of €5.3 million, to be placed only 32nd in the all-time list, compared to the 21 million career money leader Colin Montgomerie has amassed in Europe, it is pretty obvious those living in Woods's time are the true financial beneficiaries.

The top-five earners on the career money list in Europe are: Montgomerie (21 million), Ernie Els (€18 million), Retief Goosen (€15), Darren Clarke (15 million) and Padraig Harrington (13 million).

Of course, the presence of Woods in any field means it is so much more difficult for those with title aspirations to actually win. As Adam Scott, the Australian who finished joint-runner-up to Woods in the world number one's latest march to glory in the WGC-American Express championship at The Grove, outside London, on Sunday, remarked, "he's truly phenomenal. He's dominating the game: we're all up against it."

Woods has decided to take a break from tournament play, having competed in seven of the past nine weeks in a stretch that has given him six successive strokeplay tournament wins. The run started with the British Open at Hoylake in July and went on to feature the Buick Open, the US PGA, the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, the Deutsche Bank and the AmEx. His only defeats in that stretch came in non-strokeplay events, the HSBC World Matchplay in Wentworth and the Ryder Cup.

Technically, Woods goes down on the PGA Tour record books as recording a sixth successive win (for the second time in his career) but, personally, he believes that the winning streak finished when he lost at the World Matchplay. "I lost two times between my five in a row and now," Woods said candidly after winning at The Grove.

For those aspiring to raise the bar and compete better with Woods, there was also ominous news. He doesn't intend to stop seeking improvement.

"You've got to always keep pushing yourself to get better. Getting better comes from within. This is a game that's fluid, it's always changing, it's always evolving, and every facet of the game can always improve," said Woods.

"As good as I hit it this week, did I hit some bad shots? Yes. Did I not putt well on the weekend? Yeah. So, there you go."

Woods has now won nine times worldwide this season, equalling the number of successes he chalked up in 2000, the season that will always be the benchmark for how well he is playing.

On Sunday evening, job done and looking visibly tired, Woods was asked if he were better than at his peak in 2000? He replied: "My iron game is better, there's no doubt about that. I have a lot more shots and I'm able to control my ball better now, without a doubt . . . (also) I'm hitting the ball 20 or 30 yards further than I was in 2000, so technology has changed so much."

But for those who keep harking back to how dominant he was in 2000, Woods had this to say: "People want to compare it to the past, and I'm trying to get better in the future, not the past. I think it's interesting how I was getting ripped for making my swing changes (after 2000), now here we are. That's why I made those changes."

Having dominated the AmEx since it was created, his win on Sunday being the fifth time he annexed the title, Woods will defend the championship when it has a new name and a new venue and a new date next year.

The AmEx will become the CA Championship when it moves to Doral in Florida, due to be held on March 22nd-25th in 2007 with an $8-million prize fund.

It takes up the slot in the calendar vacated by The Players championship, which is moving to a new date in May.