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Tiger Woods, seeking his first major title since winning the 2008 U.S. Open, plays his tee shot on the third hole during the first round of the 91st PGA Championship on Thursday.

The question is, can it be stopped. Woods has been leading or tied for the lead after the first round 23 times in his career and he has gone on to win 12 of those tournaments, better than 50 percent. He has been leading or tied 38 times after 36 holes and gone on to win 32 times, even better. At this point, the only thing that might stop Woods is one of Alvaro Quiros’ bombs, which nearly plunked Woods on the 11th green.

“I mean, that’s just stupid long,” said Woods, about Quiros reaching the green on the 600-yard par-5 in two shots. “To hit it that far into the wind, uphill, is phenomenal — absolutely phenomenal. I used to be able to move the ball (like that), not anymore. I just plod my way around, shoot 67.”

Reporters laughed at the tongue-in-cheek self-effacement., then asked Woods how he felt about the announcement that rugby and golf being recommended for the Olympics by the IOC executive committee. “I’d love to play for the rugby team, that would be great,” said a jovial Woods.

Funny stuff, but the truth is, it might take an Olympic rugby team to drag him down. It’s hard to imagine that a year ago Woods was taking his first awkward steps after removing the brace from his reconstructed knee. Now, he is leading a major, ready for a scrum.

Woods has seized these Grand Slam events by record margins in the past. He isn’t just capable going low for a day, he’s capable of going nuclear submarine, diving deep and staying there for four days. It’s simple really: Woods is the best player on the planet, a professional golf world where all the other inhabitants tend to feint in his presence.

And if he is on top of his game, and in the lead, not even Usain Bolt can catch him.

“There are times I’ve put it together and I’ve had some pretty good margins of victory,” Woods said. “I just feel that overall, my game over the years, it’s gotten better and more consistent. And when I’m playing well, I don’t usually make that many mistakes.”

Rich Beem can vouch for that. Beem, who fought off Woods to win the PGA at Hazeltine in 2002, saw his adversary up close and personal on Thursday, part of the threesome with Harrington. He watched Woods hit 12 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens. He watched as Woods rolled 29 putts, including makes from 20, 20 and 30 feet.

“He’s just very efficient,” Beem said. “He never looked like he was going to make bogey. He made a couple of putts on 18 and on 1, but other than that, just very efficient. No big tee shots way right or way left or anything like that. It was easy.”

Woods has fired an opening-round 67 in three previous majors — the 2000 British Open, 2002 U.S. Open and 2006 British Open — and went on to win all three. That’s not an infallible statistic; he also has had opening rounds lower than 67 and not won.

But playing a rare third week in succession, Woods seems to have his groove on. Look out Hazeltine, there is a streaker on the loose.