By Tom Brew<\/o:p><\/p>\n

WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer<\/o:p><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The golf world swings back to regular old stroke-play
\nevents this week, so you can figure Tiger Woods will be back on top again.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Woods and the gang tee off Thursday in the World Golf
\nChampionship series American Express Championship at The Grove in Hertfordshire<\/st1:City>,
\nEngland<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place>. Woods has won
\nthe event four times on four different courses and is ready to see if he can
\nkeep his winning streak going. Prior to the Ryder Cup and HSBC<\/span>
\nMatch Play, Woods had won five straight medal-play tournaments.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Can six be next? Maybe.<\/span> But what about seven and eight and beyond?<\/span> Can anyone win 11
\nin a row like the great Byron Nelson, who just passed away Tuesday at the age
\nof 94?<\/o:p><\/p>\n

No way, says Woods, and he rarely says no to anything.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThe competition is so much deeper now,\u201d said Woods, who
\nhas won six in a row before, from 1999-2000. \u201cI mean, back in [Nelson\u2019s] day\u2014I
\nactually talked to him about this\u2014he said he had to beat four or five guys
\nevery week, and when you\u2019re hot that\u2019s not that hard to do. That\u2019s not the case
\nanymore. It\u2019s 40 or 50 now, so it\u2019s a lot different.\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Woods says he barely notices his winning streak, being so
\nfocused on one shot at a time, one round at a time, one tournament at a time.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI thought about one tournament at a time,\u201d Woods said of
\nthe current streak. \u201cWhen you win one, you can move on to the next one, try and
\nwin that one. You win the next, then<\/span> move on to the
\nnext.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201c[Nelson\u2019s] record is still remarkable that particular
\nyear, his 12^{th<\/sup> event he finished second and then he won the very
\nnext one, so it\u2019s 12 out of 13, and the worst finish was second. So that\u2019s
\npretty good. And 18 (wins) in a year\u2014I don\u2019t play that many tournaments, so I
\ncan\u2019t get 18.\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n}

Woods expects a birdie-fest this weekend.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to have to make a bunch of birdies,\u201d Woods
\nsaid. \u201cThe golf course is ample wide off the tee, but if you miss the fairways,
\nyou\u2019re going to have a hard time getting to the green. The greens are somewhat
\nundulating, but they\u2019re really smooth. So with them being smooth, you figured
\nguys are going to make some putts.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cSo that being said, if there\u2019s no wind at all, expect the
\nscores to be really low this week.\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Woods has won 11 of his 21 World Golf Championships
\nstarts, and he has successfully defended a title 15 times, so you\u2019ve got to
\nconsider him a huge favorite here. With the devastating Ryder Cup loss behind
\nhim, he\u2019s ready to move forward.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m starting to hit the ball a little bit better now,\u201d
\nsaid Woods, who was the Americans\u2019 leading point-getter with three. \u201cI didn\u2019t
\nplay well on Saturday morning. I played really well Saturday afternoon, then<\/span> played well again on Sunday. So I just had one bad day
\nout of five.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cSo that being said, at least I started turning it around,
\nstarted hitting the ball better and started putting better, which is nice,
\nwhich gave me a little bit of confidence going into this week.\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Woods will get to play with good friend Darren Clarke on
\nThursday, so expect him to be in a good comfort zone. The WagerWeb.com odds on
\nWoods are short as usual at 2.5 to 1, but how can you bet against him? We\u2019ve
\nsort of kept that trend through this column the last few months and it\u2019s<\/span> good logic.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Want some long shots, though?<\/o:p><\/p>\n

You know I\u2019ve been on this Sergio Garcia bandwagon for a
\nwhile, and he certainly didn\u2019t disappoint during the Ryder Cup. At 14 to 1,
\nthat\u2019s a nice number and worth a gamble.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Another guy playing well who might really have something
\nto prove this week is England<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>\u2019s
\nIan Poulter<\/span> at 30 to 1. He surprisingly didn\u2019t
\nqualify for the European Ryder Cup team, and then wasn\u2019t a captain\u2019s pick,
\nalthough Clarke and Lee Westwood certainly acquitted themselves well. But Poulter<\/span> has been playing great and this might be a perfect
\ntime to shine in a world-wide event.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Keep a good eye on him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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