Tiger on a roll

DORAL, Fla. — That red shirt is starting to look ruthless on Sunday again.

One year after Tiger Woods hobbled off the Blue Monster, he picked up the pace in his march to the Masters. Woods delivered two quick birdies to take the drama out of Doral, and two late bogeys only made his victory in the Cadillac Championship seem closer than it really was.

Woods had full control of his game and never let anyone get closer than three shots until he had locked up his 17th World Golf Championship title. With a conservative bogey that didn’t matter on the final hole, he closed with a 1-under 71.

For the first time in five years, Woods has two wins before the Masters.

And both of them were dominant.

“That’s how I know I can play,” Woods said. “That’s the thing. To be able to bring it out a couple times so far this year — and then be able to close and get the Ws on top of that — that’s nice. Any time I can win prior to Augusta, it always feels good.”

And to think it was one year ago Sunday that Woods withdrew after 11 holes in the final round at Doral because of tightness in his left Achilles tendon, the same injury that had caused him to sit out most of the previous summer. It created uncertainty about his health and whether he could ever get his game back.

False alarm.

Woods now has five wins in the last year, the most of anyone in the world, and he can return to No. 1 with a win at Bay Hill in two weeks.

He won by two shots over Steve Stricker, who might want to claim a share of this trophy.

Woods ran into Stricker on the putting green Wednesday afternoon, and in a 45-minute session, Stricker helped him with his posture over putts. Woods left feeling as good as he did at Torrey Pines, where he won by four shots. And it showed. Woods made 27 birdies this week, one short of his personal best on the PGA Tour, and he took the fewest putts (100) over 72 holes in any tour event.

“Thank you to Steve for the putting lesson,” Woods said at the trophy presentation. “It was one of those weeks where I felt pretty good about how I was playing, made a few putts and got it rolling.”

Stricker, playing a part-time schedule, picked up his second runner-up finish in just three starts. He closed with a 68, and had no regrets about offering Woods some help.

“At times you kick yourself,” Stricker said with a laugh. “He’s a good friend. We talk a lot about putting. It’s good to see him playing well.”

Asked if he would have won without that chance meeting with Stricker, Woods hedged a little.

“I would like to say I probably would have, but …” he said with a smile. “I’ve been putting at home and it just still hadn’t felt right. I still was a little bit off. … He basically got me in the same position that I was at Torrey. So once he put me in there where I felt comfortable, I said, ‘Well, this is not too foreign. This is what I was a month or so ago.’ And I started rolling it and it felt really, really good.”

The Masters is a month away, and Woods is sure to be the favorite.

“Majors and World Golf Championships are the best because you know you are playing against the best players,” Woods said.