MIAMI — The Masters is on his mind, and Tiger Woods wants to make sure he doesn't peak too early.

Not to worry.

The last two tournaments have ended without a trophy, which is no disgrace in golf. But it's the way they ended that indicate Woods has to do a lot more than just show up at Augusta National to win another green jacket.

At the Accenture Match Play Championship, he had a 4-foot birdie putt to beat Nick O'Hern and advance to the quarterfinals. Woods said he neglected to notice a ball mark in his line, which he says threw off the short putt to the right. He wound up losing on the next hole.

"It's my fault for not paying attention to detail," he said at the time.

Last week at Bay Hill, he was working his way up the leaderboard until a double bogey on the 11th hole, courtesy of a three-putt. Then came the bogey-double bogey-triple bogey finish that sent him to a 43 on the back nine and a 76, his worst round in a regular PGA Tour event in nearly four years.

"I've fixed it," he said Wednesday at the CA Championship. "It was just frustrating, because I've made some uncharacteristic mistakes with my club selection on some of the holes. You look back at the finish, and I hit bad shots. But all throughout the entire tournament, I kept making silly mistakes — mistakes I don't normally make."

He hit another tee shot into the water Wednesday at Doral, although this was less troubling.

It was a practice round.

This is a different road to the Masters. Doral used to be the first tournament of the Florida Swing, a time when players were just beginning to think about the Masters. Now it's batting clean-up in the Sunshine State, with the Masters around the corner.

And change goes beyond the calendar.

Instead of a full-field event of 144 players at a regular PGA Tour event, it's now a World Golf Championship with 73 players.

Not even Tiger Woods was sure how he would introduce himself on the first tee today, only that the words "defending champion" would be appropriate in some capacity.

But defending champion of what?

Or is it where?

Woods has won the last two years on the Blue Monster, beating Phil Mickelson in a terrific duel in 2005, then holding off David Toms to win by one shot the following season.

The CA Championship used to be called the American Express Championship, and Woods has won that tournament the last two years, too. He beat John Daly in a playoff at Harding Park in San Francisco, then blew away his alleged competition at The Grove outside London last fall to win by eight shots.

"Multiple defending champion?" Woods asked as he walked out the door. "Have I ever done that? I don't know. Go look it up."

No matter how anyone looks at it, he figures to be a strong favorite. The debate is whether his advantage stems from being at Doral or being at a World Golf Championship.

Woods practically owns the WGC events, having won 10 of 15 times in stroke play.

The CA Championship, name change notwithstanding, is one of three tournaments he has won five times. The others are the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines and the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone. What makes this one more unique is he has won on five courses in four countries — Valderrama in Spain, Mount Juliet in Ireland, Capital City Club in Atlanta, Harding Park and The Grove.

Why so much success?

"I don't know. He just plays well at them, I guess," Sergio Garcia said. "You ask him and let me know."