History maker
Last updated: 18th March 2008
Woods: another win on the way?
I think we're all very fortunate to be alive at this point in time and have the opportunity to see it. There's never been a player in the history of the game of golf that plays as well as Tiger Woods.
Butch Harmon
Quotes of the week
Master coach Butch Harmon says golf fans should count themselves lucky to be alive to see Tiger Woods in his current form.
Harmon spoke to Golf Night ahead of this week's C.A. Championship and assessed the chances of some of his pupils past and present, including Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott and, of course, the world number one.
Woods is seeking his 16th WGC title at the Doral Golf Resort this week and is the hot favourite to pick up his seventh trophy in nine years at this event, which you can see live on Sky Sports from Thursday.
When asked who would be in contention in Florida, Harmon said Woods was the obvious favourite because the course suits him and he insisted it will be a joy to watch him play.
He said: "Obviously there's some other characters that are playing well like Mickelson and Vijay Singh but when you think about Tiger Woods, he's on this incredible roll.
"He's playing with so much confidence, his ability is so great at the moment and he loves the Doral golf course. I think it suits his eye well. It suits his game and he's obviously going to be the favourite and will be very hard to beat.
"I don't see any weaknesses at the moment. I think he has the occasional poor round, but when he does he goes to the practice tee and fixes whatever the problem was and comes back the next day stronger.
"I think we're all very fortunate to be alive at this point in time and have the opportunity to see it.
"There's never been a player in the history of the game of golf that plays as well as Tiger Woods and that can dominate in the way that he does. Quite frankly as a golf fan I think it's fun to watch."
Challenge
One man who could challenge Woods is Mickelson and Harmon feels we could be in for a fascinating battle if 'Lefty' can live up to his potential this week.
He said: "I think Phil Mickelson is the one player that looks forward to the challenge, so he's going to have to step up to the plate and play well enough to give Tiger a challenge.
"Mickelson won in Los Angeles, probably should have won in Phoenix, he's working very hard and is building up to the Masters.
"He too likes the Doral course so I think it would be wonderful if we could see the two of them play up to their potential and get another Sunday round like we had in Boston at the Deutsche Bank."
Another of Harmon's pupils, the young Australian Adam Scott, is also a possible contender and his coach feels he has all the tools to pick up a big win in the near future.
Anxious
Harmon continued: "Adam has been at home and he's just coming back over to the States very rested and very anxious to play.
"He's got an aggressive schedule coming up and the long, hard courses suit his game. He played very well at the Matchplay, but putted poorly so he's been working on that.
"I look forward to seeing him at Doral and seeing if we can get him up in the winner's circle soon.
"He's put a lot of pressure on himself by saying it's time for him to step up to the plate in the majors, which it is.
"He's never really played well in the majors for a player that's as good as he is and has all the ability that he has."
Augusta
Harmon will be part of the Sky Sports team for the tournament and says he is excited about seeing some of the top European players in action.
And he suspects this week's event could give us a good indication as to who will perform well at the Masters in Augusta next month.
He concluded: "It's nice to see Padraig Harrington starting to get his game together, I expect Ian Poulter to start playing better and I'm looking for him to have a really good year.
"I notice that Paul McGinley is playing better which is good, I don't think Monty is playing to the best of his potential right now but you can't ever count him out.
"I think the guys are starting to get better and like the American players, the European players are pacing themselves and leading themselves towards Augusta."
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