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“If you look at most of the guys’ careers, it looks like their peak years are in their 30s,” Tiger Woods said Wednesday.

updated 7:36 p.m. ET Dec. 7, 2005

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The moment was a reminder that Tiger Woods isn’t getting any younger.

He was walking toward his bag on the practice range at Sherwood Country Club and noticed a small crowd gathered around his mother, who was standing in her socks, hitting balls with his 5-wood.

“Mom, I haven’t seen you hit a ball in 10 years,” he told her.

Then, Kultida Woods sat in a chair behind her son and watched him work, just as she did when he was a boy.

His swing is nothing like it was when Woods turned pro in August 1996, certainly not the stinger shot with his driver that he began working on a month ago. The goatee is now a permanent fixture. The skinny kid from Stanford is now chiseled. He is a married man, who wants children sooner rather than later.

Woods turns 30 at the end of the month, making the Target World Challenge the final tournament in his 20s.

“Pretty impressive decade,” David Toms said, shaking his head.

Woods won 46 times on the PGA Tour in his 20s; only six men have won more in their careers. His 10 majors trail only Jack Nicklaus (18) and Walter Hagen (11).

And considering most golfers blossom in their 30s, Woods might just be getting started.

“If you look at most of the guys’ careers, it looks like their peak years are in their 30s,” Woods said. “Hopefully, that will be the case for me. Hopefully, my 30s will be better than my 20s. Obviously, there is a lot deeper competition, a lot more work I need to do, work to accomplish those goals.

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The focus has always been on Nicklaus’ record for most majors. Woods reached the halfway point by capturing the Masters in a playoff, and he reached double digits with a wire-to-wire victory at the British Open, where Nicklaus played a major for the final time.

If Nicklaus indeed is his gauge, Woods is on pace.

Nicklaus won 30 times in his 20s, although he didn’t turn pro until he was 22. Seven of those were majors, including three green jackets (Woods now has four).

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“If he keeps his desire the way it is, there are no limits for how good he can be,” Thomas Bjorn said Wednesday. “He was dominant from the day he came out. We were well aware we had someone special on our hands.”

Arnold Palmer won 44 times and six majors in his 30s, the most PGA Tour victories by anyone at that age. Nicklaus won 38 times and eight majors in his 30s, and if Woods matches him, that would put him at 84 victories (breaking Sam Snead’s record of 82 career wins) and 18 majors (tying Nicklaus).