They have monster of a task

Beating Woods at Doral won't be easy for field

DORAL, Fla. - With whitecaps appearing on the large ponds that frame many of the fairways at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa, Tiger Woods looked over at Jim Furyk yesterday and shook his head. When after two easy swings each of them launched their golf balls downwind and longer than needed at the 551-yard, par-5 10th, the shakes of the head turned to chuckles.

Then they directed each other toward the left of the 10th green and toward the 18th tee. On this day, 11 holes would be enough for Woods and Furyk, and for many of their colleagues in the CA Championship, nine was plenty.

"Anything more than nine holes and you'll do damage to your swing," said Adam Scott with a smile.

As he stood on the putting green, Scott could hear the furious flapping of flags in winds that were whipping upward of 30 miles per hour, and he explained why he had called it a day after just nine holes, even though the sunshine poured down.

"If you play nine holes, you can get a lot out of it," he said. "You can get an indication what a four- or five-club wind is like."

Scott smiled again.

The practice green was crowded with players who thought similarly to Scott, and to Woods and Furyk, all of them having limited their final practice rounds in preparation for this $8 million World Golf Championship event.

"It's blowing pretty hard out there," said Woods. "So we just had to call it a little early."

No such option will be part of the equation today, so even with a 40 percent chance of rain and the expected 20-m.p.h. winds, the players will venture forth on a most demanding task: trying to put a halt to Woods's five-tournament winning streak.

It's been near impossible for a while now, because if you factor in European Tour events (the Dubai Desert Classic) and unofficial competitions (the Target World Challenge), Woods has won seven in a row. He hasn't lost anywhere in the world since being second at the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston in Norton, Mass., last Labor Day, and stretching back to August, Woods has won nine of his last 10 starts.

Surely, good times for him.

But what about the opposition?

"It's a great time to be playing," said Scott, who has reason to feel that way since at the age of 27 he has earned more than $16 million on the PGA Tour. But with Woods so dominating, Scott knows there exists a flip side to the equation. "It's awfully hard to beat him, but he doesn't play every week.

"I know he's winning all the time, but he doesn't win every week."

It sure seems that way, however, because with Woods's win total up to 64 and wonderment circling about a possible undefeated season, the spotlight is more intense than ever and the questions continue to be thrown at his beleaguered competitors.

"It's the hand we're dealt. He's dominating it," said Furyk. "You sit back and admire what he's done, but in the same breath you can't really worry about who you're playing against, [because] I've got enough worries myself. I'm trying to become the best player I can every day of my career, whether he's playing or not."

This week, Woods is playing and he'll attempt to not only run his winning streak to six, but he'll be going for his fourth consecutive win at Doral's "Blue Monster." And as if the field needs to hear any of the other positive vibes Woods has going for him, there's the matter of these WGC events. Woods has won 15 of the 26 he's played.

Impressive stuff, the sort of domination the game has never witnessed, and to add emphasis to the story, no one is suggesting there is any sort of end on the horizon.

Not so with the final day of practice rounds. They definitely were at an end, shortened by gusts that were causing havoc, especially at brutes such as the 467-yard, par-4 18th. Tim Clark needed driver, 5-iron, and 9-iron just to reach the green, and Furyk didn't do any better. When his drive settled on the right side of the fairway, he was so far from the green, there was no yardage given on a sprinkler head. He spotted another sprinkler head and wondered if it indicated 200 yards to go, but his caddie, Mike Cowan, shook his head. It was 225, he said, and so Furyk could only laugh and play it as a three-shot hole.

On this day, it was one tough assignment.

But it's nothing when compared to the task they face against Woods starting today.

Five-star hotel

With the Masters just three weeks away and the PGA Tour having been in Florida since Feb. 28, players have had opportunities to head to Augusta National Golf Club. Phil Mickelson was there yesterday and Woods said he'd probably go up for a day. Scott took a trip there Monday with Fred Couples, Nick Watney, and Butch Harmon, but the young Aussie said the best part was the chance to stay in Stephens Cabin on the property. "I thought we'd be in the Motel 6 down the street," he said, laughing, but when he settled into his quarters, the aura of the place hit him when an attendant helped with the luggage. "Freddy stayed in a cabin with me and they took the bags in [and said], 'Here's your room, Mr. Couples. I'll put the bags in here and the green jackets are in the closet for you.' " The jacket, of course, is Couples's reward for winning this major championship, and Scott felt a tingle. "That was pretty sweet," he said . . . Couples was asked about the ongoing soap opera that is John Daly, whose disqualification from last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational continued a downward spiral that is in its third year. "I think there are only two things that can happen," said Couples. "He can read things and say, 'The heck with it.' Or, he can read things and say, 'Maybe they're correct.' I don't know enough about [his drinking problems] to help out, but he should be doing better. He's got more talent than 85 percent of the people on Tour." . . . Daly did stick around the Orlando area after he missed his pro-am tee time and got DQd at Bay Hill, so he called tournament officials and asked if he could make amends. His three pro-am partners had left town, so they arranged for three customers to play a round of golf with Daly at nearby Celebration, Fla.

Gentleman of game

Billy Andrade's 21st year on Tour is off to a slow start as he's made just one cut in six starts. But the 44-year-old hasn't forgotten where his allegiances lie when it comes to his profession. That's why he didn't hesitate to pinch hit last week when Tour officials were in a jam during the pro-am at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. "It was no big deal. Actually, it was a no-brainer," said Andrade, who was on the putting green when he heard a tournament official say that Arron Oberholser had withdrawn with a shoulder injury and a replacement was needed. Stunned that several players turned down the request to play - including a rookie who had just gotten into the field as an alternate and had never played Bay Hill - the officials were saved by Andrade, who played the final seven holes with three amateur partners . . . When he was told that he had moved to first alternate for the Arnold Palmer Invitational, James Driscoll made the trip to Orlando, which meant he needed to make last-minute plans for a caddie. He put a call in to Michael Capone of Cranston, R.I., the onetime Wake Forest standout who has settled in the area, and the friends were together at Bay Hill on Thursday, waiting to see if anyone else withdrew. It didn't work out that way, so Driscoll packed his clubs and turned his attention to the next event, which begins today in Puerto Rico. Capone played the Nationwide Tour last year, but is currently sidelined with a neck injury . . . Carl Pettersson has slipped to No. 78 in the world rankings, thus he's not in the field for the CA Championship. It's the first WGC event he's missed since 2005. "I'd like to get back," he said, "[but] sometimes it's good. It gives you a little kick in the rear." . . . When Retief Goosen posted a third-round 68 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, it marked his first sub-70 round on the PGA Tour since August. Obviously, he liked the feeling, because he came back with another 68 the next day to finish joint 14th, his best Tour finish since being tied for second at last year's Masters . . . When he's in the hunt and Woods's name is part of the mix, does Bart Bryant change his game? "No," said Bryant. "I'm not good enough to change my game. I mean, all I got is the game that I've got." . . . Tom Lehman has signed on as a spokesman for the Triple Threat Challenge in an effort to educate people about heart disease and cholesterol. You can refer to the website triplethreatchallenge.com.

For many, off week

Given a locale, Orlando, where so many professional golfers live, it wasn't a surprise to look up and see familiar faces among the crowd at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. But seeing Suzann Pettersen and Se Ri Pak walking along offered a reminder that not much of a field was assembled in Mexico City for last week's LPGA Tour stop, the MasterCard Classic. With the Tour's best player, Lorena Ochoa, the center of attention in her home country, there weren't many marquee names on hand, as Annika Sorenstam, Paula Creamer, Natalie Gulbis, Morgan Pressel, and Karrie Webb chose to take the week off. No surprise then that the winner (Louise Friberg) and runner-up (Yani Tseng) are rookies who were making their third starts. Ochoa, meanwhile, shot herself out of things with an opening 76, and you have to go back 70 rounds, to last year's 77 in the Ginn Open, for a higher score. The crowd favorite eventually settled for a share of eighth . . . Since Ian Poulter made news by suggesting that once he reaches his potential he would be, in his mind, the world's No. 2 player and thus in the best position to challenge Woods, he has dropped from 22d to 25th in the rankings.

Local stars

Peter Uihlein of Mattapoisett added to his impressive junior résumé by shooting 68-68-67 -203 to secure a five-stroke win in the Azalea Amateur at Palatka (Fla.) GC. A senior at the Leadbetter Academy in Bradenton, Fla., Uihlein will attend Oklahoma State next fall . . . Former Hopkinton High School teammates Keegan Bradley and Jon Curran had impressive performances for St. John's and Vanderbilt, respectively. Bradley shot 70-73-68 to share medalist honors and help St. John's finish in a tie for third at the Palmas Del Mar Intercollegiate in Puerto Rico, while Curran had rounds of 69-72-73 to finish joint second at the Kauai College Cup in Hawaii, where Vanderbilt finished first . . . With freshman Robert DeMaio shooting 74-66-65 to finish joint third, Boston College was able to secure third place in the Treasure Coast Classic in Fort Pierce, Fla., its first tournament of the spring session. Robert Reed of Claremont, N.H., finished tied for eighth . . . In the women's competition, BC finished fifth. Lara Smilnak shot 76-76 and was the top Eagle, finishing ninth . . . The University of Connecticut finished sixth in the CSU Spring Kickoff in Charleston, S.C. Senior Brian Travalja shot 70-77-74 to lead the Huskies' effort . . . Jamie Neher of Weston closed out the winter portion of the Gateway Tour in style, shooting 68-69-71 to win by two at Binks Forest GC in Wellington, Fla. Justin Peters of Pembroke finished joint 17th, then went on to snare a T-9 at the Winter Series Championship, a tournament at Encanterra Country Club in Arizona for players on the Gateway Tours in Florida and Arizona. Neher finished sixth, Peters 12th on the winter money list and will await the spring season, which begins March 19 . . . On the Minor League Golf Tour, Jack Lander of Needham and Tom Gillis of Beverly shot 68s to tie for second in a tournament in Palm City, Fla. Gillis a week earlier had shot 64 to win a tournament at The Florida Club. Frank Dully, the head professional at Kernwood CC in Salem, is currently 10th on the MLGT money list.

Jim McCabe can be reached at jmccabe@globe.com.