A triumph at East Lake will be quite a way to wrap up his greatest season to date — nine wins in 16 starts — but it will also provide for two months of build-up. Woods will rest, but not the hype, and where better a place but Maui to resume the streak. The newly-named Mercedes-Benz Championships is one he’s won twice. When he gets a third, the streak will be at eight and onward to another favorite locale for Woods, Torrey Pines in La Jolla, Calif., just north of San Diego.

Three times he’s won the Buick Invitational, so it looks routine for the streak to hit nine, at which time the hype will be at fever pitch. Within a few days of that ninth straight victory, the Super Bowl will have been played, the NBA and NHL will be months away from the only interest they generate (playoffs), and baseball will be sequestered in spring training outposts in Arizona and Florida.

In other words, the sports stage will be cleared for all-Tiger, all-the-time, particularly with 17 days in between his win at the Buick and the start of the Nissan Open. It will give us plenty of time to write about how Woods will try and solve the dilemma that is Riviera and no doubt there will be stories suggesting he attend a séance in an effort to seek advice from Ben Hogan, a legend from another era who knew how to win at that classic layout.

MIKE CELIZIC ON GOLF End of an era Nelson embodied essence of game like no one else msnbc.com

My biggest fear is that some will write about the prospects of his record-tying 11th win at the WGC Accenture, and how ticklish that will be, given the fickle nature of match play and the new venue involved. Or even, believe it or not, the stories that will be written about the record-breaking 12th straight win, and how fitting it will be to come at the home of the game’s greatest ambassador, the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Florida in mid-March.

Slide show   Week in Sports Pictures Pain on the skating rink, flying high on the hardwood, upsets on the football field, and more. more photos

Hard to believe folks would get that far ahead of themselves, isn’t it? I mean, writing about wins 11 and 12, before he’s gotten No. 10? Crazy.

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