Tiger Woods has been restored to the number one position in the world rankings as a result of his victory in the BellSouth Classic near Atlanta on Sunday. And the chances are that he will improve on his current third place in the US money list when he defends the $2.5 million Byron Nelson Classic at TPC Las Colinas later this week.
Whatever about his relatively quiet defence of the Masters title - he finished in a share of eighth place behind Mark O'Meara - Woods has maintained an admirably high level of performance this season. He won the Johnnie Walker Classic after a play-off in Thailand in January and has had six top-10 finishes, including a victory, in nine events in the US.
So, the 22-year-old remains an enormous attraction, even if his success-rate has tapered off somewhat from a sensational rookie season. And his appeal was enhanced considerably by some spectacular contributions at TPC Sugarloaf, where severely-scarred fairways betrayed the ravages of hostile weather.
Neither Richard Coughlan nor Keith Nolan made the cut in the BellSouth but it looks as if both will be in action again this week. Coughlan is already officially in the Byron Nelson field but his compatriot will have an anxious wait as first alternate.
It seems that Nolan will have to learn to live with this sort of situation during the coming weeks, given the attractiveness of the current run of tournaments. The Byron Nelson is followed by the Colonial, then the Memorial, Kemper Open and Buick Classic, leading up to the US Open at the Olympic Club, San Francisco on June 18th to 21st.
Meanwhile, the Woods mystique continues to grow. On the 608-yard, par-five 10th hole at Sugarloaf last Sunday, he reached the green with a stunning, second shot of 278 yards. And it wasn't the product of a driver or three wood. Remarkably, he covered that distance with a two-iron which went almost 50 yards further than the celebrated shot by Christy O'Connor jnr with the same club in the 1989 Ryder Cup at The Belfry.
CBS commentators, including David Feherty, went a little over the top, however, in drooling over a recovery pitch he played to within five feet of the short 11th, after hitting his tee-shot into a muddy lie on a back behind the green. Words like "incredible" and "fantastic" came over the airways. Yet Seve Ballesteros would have considered it no more than a run-of-the-mill challenge.
It was certainly fascinating, however, to see the manner in which Woods responded to intrusive cheering from the 18th, as he attempted to play a wedge approach to the 12th.
Displaying amazing control, he aborted the shot mid-way through the downswing. Then, when the crowd had settled down, he proceeded to hit a solid approach onto the green.
As it happened, he had to content himself with a rather scratchy final round of 72 for a 17-underpar winning aggregate of 271. But he had already made a huge impact on the event with a third round of 63 on Saturday.
From a total of 37 competitive rounds this season, including the Johnnie Walker Classic, Woods has shot 14 in the 60s, covering the full range from 63 upwards. More significantly, he has been over par on only seven occasions, five of which occurred in successive tournaments in March - the Doral-Ryder Open, Bay Hill Invitational and Players' Championship.
"I suppose the thing that has surprised me most in the last 12 months is facial recognition," said Woods. "People recognise me a lot and I didn't expect that to the degree that it's happened. Now that it's upon me, however, I've kinda grown accustomed to it."
He went on: "Where my game is concerned, I feel I'm hitting the ball much more consistent than I did last year. I'm controlling my distances well and I'm flighting the ball better than I have in a long time."
Meanwhile, a remarkable aspect of the current money list is the presence in 10th position of Trevor Dodds, who gained a breakthrough victory at Greensboro last month. The 38-year-old from Namibia received $46,800 for a share of 10th place last Sunday, bringing his earnings for the season to $643,160.
His previous highest position in the money list was 126th in 1993. The total prizemoney accummulated by Dodds over 10 previous seasons on the US regular tour was $495,866.
