Byron Nelson, who passed away Tuesday at the age of 94, won 11 PGA Tour events in a row back in 1945. Tiger Woods is at five and counting.
Woods is back in action at this week's American Express Championship, one of three WGC tournaments on the golfing calendar. He has an excellent chance to make it six straight victories, not counting the Ryder Cup – Woods is the runaway favorite at +300 and has won this event four out of the six times it has taken place. Ryder Cup teammate Jim Furyk is way back in second at +1200.
This is a rare occasion where Woods has something to prove despite being at the top of his game. The Ryder Cup continues to elude him, but the nature of the event doesn't cater to his strengths: match play, team-oriented, and with nothing at stake other than pride and the shiny trophy the Europeans got to hoist yet again this week. Even in this format, Woods went 3-2 in individual play, his best-ever performance at the Ryder Cup.
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Now things are back to "normal" on the PGA Tour. The golfers are at The Grove this week in Watford, England, a long par-5 (17 miles, actually) from central London. This is the first time The Grove has hosted this event; it's a beautiful par-72, 7,152-yard course designed by Kyle Phillips, an American architect who is also responsible for the Kingsbarns Golf Links at historic St. Andrews. Woods' four wins at this event came on four different courses, so making it five isn't necessarily a problem.
Woods will be facing about as tough a field as you can have at a non-major event. The WGC format sees the Top 50 golfers on the official World Golf Rankings get an invitation, plus select other players. Other notable names competing at The Grove include 2004 winner Ernie Els (+1600), Vijay Singh (+1800), Sergio Garcia (+1800) and Retief Goosen (+2500). Mike Weir, the 2000 winner and the only other man besides Woods and Els to take this tournament, is not in action.
The first threesome tees off bright and early (Eastern Time, at least) at 6:30 a.m. Thursday. ESPN is on hand for live TV coverage on the first two days starting at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. ABC picks things up on tape delay over the weekend.
