Jim McCabe

Fame and fortune? He's all set.

Name etched forever in the history books? Got that, too.

A dominating persona and worldwide respect? All set there.

So what sort of birthday present do you get the guy who seemingly has everything? Of course, that was Elin Nordegren's dilemma, not ours, but if she was looking for suggestions, I would have offered a bigger trophy room for Tiger Woods? After all, he is far from done. On the contrary, he's just getting started.

Woods turned 30 on Dec. 30. Although you could classify him as a grizzled veteran, hold off on the AARP cards, the oversized irons with graphite shafts, or the putter with a suction-cup ball retriever at the top of the handle. It's a birthday that does not signal a downhill slide, but one that will usher in a new chapter in his incomparable life.

Considering the enormous and unprecedented achievements in his 20s, it would be foolhardy to predict that Woods will attain more staggering numbers in his 30s. But don't interpret that to mean he'll fold up and disappear, either, because when it comes to this topic, I share Woods' sentiments. Namely, he's just reaching his prime.

"I'm excited about that, very excited," Woods said. "I hope that's the case."

That will be the case with Woods. He knows the greatest gift he'll get for his birthday are two priceless commodities that serve him well in his line of work — experience and good health. Though he is often shown in precarious positions on the golf course — situated between trees, hitting off of cart paths, up against grandstands — Woods manages a golf course superbly and he's getting even better at it. Other than a minor knee cleanup a few years ago and some off-and-on back twinges, Woods is in great physical shape, getting stronger every year and more knowledgeable about how to stay fit and ahead of the pack.

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Consider a half-dozen of the world's finest young talents — Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Luke Donald, Charles Howell, Paul Casey, Justin Rose — each of them 25-28 years old and in possession of delicate skills.

Combined, they have 22 wins in either the U.S. or Europe, which puts them a mere 25 behind Woods, and none of them has yet won a major. Yet, if you talk to them, to a man they will speak of gaining experience and getting better and how their best years are ahead of them.

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They are right, too, only those best years will also include Woods, who is more in their age group than he is in with those who should be considered his fiercest rivals — Vijay Singh (42), Ernie Els (36), Retief Goosen (36), Phil Mickelson (35), and Jim Furyk (35). It's conceivable that most of these players will not hang with Woods tournament after tournament for more than another five or six years, so unless some young stud burns it up and explodes on the scene (Ryan Moore?), you could argue that Woods will maintain his lofty stature. My guess is, he's good for 25-30 wins while in his 30s, with four or five majors.

Woods has done a magnificent job of pacing himself so that when he does play, he's in the best frame of mind, which explains his relentlessness. He averaged about 19.5 PGA Tour events per season during his 20s and while my guess is that that figure will drop slightly over the next 10 years (say, 17-18), there's no way this will affect his commitment to the majors. He's got that down to a science and for proof, consider that 22 percent of his victories have been in the majors. For a comparison, there's only one place to go and that's to Jack Nicklaus' record — 23 percent of his victories in his 20s were major conquests.

Ah, Woods vs. Nicklaus. It is a matchup that we will never be privileged to have, so we must be satisfied with merely comparing numbers and as such they are favorable toward Woods. He played in 185 PGA Tour events as a pro during his 20s, won 46 of them, and gathered 10 majors. He's off to a good start in his 30s, winning his debut at the 2006 Buick Invitational.

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Nicklaus did not leave college after only two years, as Woods did, so during his 20s he played in fewer (177) PGA Tour tournaments as a pro, won 30 times, seven of them majors.

Ironically, it was at about the same point in their careers that Nicklaus and Woods experienced dry spells in the majors. Woods won two of them this past year, halting a stretch of 10 straight without a win, while Nicklaus in the year he turned 30 (1970) won the British Open to put a stop to his skid of 12 majors without a triumph.

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