When he was winning his first 10 majors, Woods blasted the ball past everyone, hit shorter irons into the greens, showed more ability to scramble than anyone, and, like Nicklaus, never seemed to miss a putt he really needed to make.

He’s still draining putts from everywhere and his ability to get up and down from anywhere is nothing short of astonishing. Sunday, he opened up an 8-iron and splashed a 60-yard bunker shot to within kick-in range of the hole. Nobody makes that shot, not even Mickelson.

But what’s different is his self-control and the way he’s using his brain now instead of his brawn.

At Hoylake, he his hit driver just once in 72 holes. That was once unthinkable. Woods never cared where his drives were going, because he figured he could get up and down from anywhere. Also, like most testosterone-driven athletes, he couldn’t resist the urge to show people how far he could hit that little white ball.

And, let’s face it. When you can hit the ball farther than anyone, that alone is enough to make you rich and famous. John Daly has made millions by simply taking his own advice to “grip it and rip it.” He’s won two majors, which made him a champion and got the world’s attention, but he doesn’t have to do much of anything now to draw galleries and collect endorsement money beyond showing up and hitting the snot out of the ball. You don’t have to know a 5-iron from a tire iron to get a kick out of watching Daly.

It’s a guy thing. Every cell in your body tells you it doesn’t matter where you finish as long as you hit it longer than anyone else. Hank Aaron is the greatest home run hitter ever, but Babe Ruth is still considered the greatest slugger because he hit the ball farther.

TIGER'S 14 MAJOR VICTORIES Event Site Score Edge Second U.S./08 Torrey Pines -1 1 Mediate* PGA/07 Southern Hills -8 2 Austin PGA/06 Medinah -18 5 Micheel British/06 Hoylake -18 2 DiMarco British/05 St.Andrews -14 5 Montgomerie Masters/05 Augusta -12 1 DiMarco* U.S./02 Bethpage -3 3 Mickelson Masters/02 Augusta -12 3 Goosen Masters/01 Augusta -16 2 Duval PGA/00 Valhalla -18 1 May* British/00 St.Andrews -19 8 Bjorn, Els U.S./00 Pebble Beach -12 15 Els, Jimenez PGA/99 Medinah -11 1 Garcia Masters/97 Augusta -18 12 Kite * Playoff

But Tiger has come to realize that being the greatest slugger isn’t the object; winning is. So he played Hoylake smarter than he’d ever played a golf course in his life. And then he came to Medinah and did it again. He hit driver, but only when it made strategic sense. Time and again, he let Luke Donald, his playing partner and alleged challenger, outdrive him.

When you can hit a 7-iron 190 yards, who cares if you’re 200 yards away from the green off the tee — especially if you can put the ball pretty much anywhere you want? But the old Tiger took macho delight in outdriving everybody on the course. And sometimes it cost him.

The new Tiger doesn’t care. Winning is more important than anything, and winning majors is how careers are measured. So that’s what he’s doing.

He had three bogies in 72 holes at Medinah, and one of them was the result of playing it safe down the stretch, protecting a five-stroke lead. It was a smart bogey, the kind that caused Mickelson to lose the U.S. Open because it wasn’t manly enough for him to shoot for.

MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIP TITLES Player Masters U.S. Brit. PGA Total Jack Nicklaus 6 4 3 5 18 Tiger Woods 4 3 3 4 14 Walter Hagen 0 2 4 5 11 Ben Hogan 2 4 1 2 9 Gary Player 3 1 3 2 9

Tiger won’t lose one like that, because he’s resolved not to play dumb. If he can win hitting 2-irons and 5-woods, that’s what he’s going to do. And if you want to create a 650-yard hole to counteract golf technology, he’ll still get there in two when no one else can.

Before the past two months, Tiger Woods has been every superlative you can imagine. And now he’s even better. The 8-iron out of the sand was an incredible shot Sunday. But everything he’s done and is doing is incredible.

Critics complain that we can’t know his true greatness because he hasn’t had a worthy challenger. Nicklaus had Lee Trevino, Tom Watson and Arnold Palmer. Tiger has no one. That’s what they say.

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But I refuse to believe that today’s golfers are less competitive than those of 30 and 40 years ago. Retief Goosen has beaten Tiger in majors. Ernie Els has. Mickelson has won three. There are a ton of great golfers out there. But Tiger’s simply greater than all of them.

David Pelz, Mickelson’s short-game coach, said that nobody can beat his man when he’s on his game. Sunday, Woods showed that up for the nonsense it is.

He’s not only better than all of them, he’s smarter, too. And if you think what he showed in 2000-01 was something, I’ve got a feeling that we ain’t seen nothing yet.

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