On his own, Woods already sits on top
CHANDLER'S CROSS, England — All it took was one glance at the scoreboard to realize the Ryder Cup was over.
Tiger Woods was in the lead.
It required two of his best shots to get there Thursday in the American Express Championship, a drive he hammered on the 567-yard 18th hole at The Grove, followed by a 3-wood into a slight breeze that landed 20 feet away for an eagle that gave Woods an 8-under 63, and a one-shot lead over Padraig Harrington and Ian Poulter.
And it brought back talk of the Ryder Cup.
Harrington could hear the roar for Woods' eagle about a quarter-mile away in the media center, and when someone mentioned that Woods was playing well of late, the Irishman interrupted.
"He got three points last week," Harrington said with a smile.
That's more points than Woods has ever earned in a Ryder Cup, but it didn't stop Europe from another resounding victory.
Even so, it put Woods on the defensive when someone brought up his success in stroke play over the last few months.
The world's No. 1 player won five straight tournaments, from the British Open in July through the Deutsche Bank Championship the first week of the September, until he lost in the first round of the World Match Play Championship at Wentworth.
Then came the Ryder Cup, where he went 3-2.
"I'm only in control of five points, and I got three of five," Woods said. "I did the best I could. I could have holed more putts, certainly, but overall, I thought I played pretty solid."
How would he have fared if the Ryder Cup had been a stroke-play tournament?
"In a five-round event? Probably 15th or better," Woods said. "I only had one bad day, which was Saturday morning. Other than that, I played pretty darn good."
He was better than that on the first day of the American Express Championship.
Woods matched his best score of the year. He also shot 63 in the final round of the Deutsche Bank, his fifth consecutive victory, a streak that still exists on the PGA Tour because the World Match Play in a European Tour event.
"I made a couple of putts and got things rolling and got the momentum on my side, and just kept rolling, Woods said.
