Amazingly, Tiger still getting better

When Tiger Woods said over the weekend that his golf game is getting better - even better than it was in his still-hard-to-believe run through 2000 and 2001 - it wasn’t idle chatter.

Tiger doesn’t do idle chatter.

It was, no doubt, thunder in the ears of everyone else who makes their living on the PGA Tour, reminding them that they’re getting no closer to chasing down Tiger and, perhaps, the gap is widening again.

Woods, who is off to Dubai this week after winning the U.S. Open Preview/Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines on Sunday, probably is getting better.

It’s what he does.

He ‘owns’ his golf swing, a concept he’s talked about often in the past. That means he knows how it works and in the rare moments when he hits a ragged shot, he can immediately fix it. He’s always been confident but to watch him and listen to him now it’s obvious that he’s in a great place with his game.

Having tied Arnold Palmer on the all-time PGA Tour victory list with No. 62 on Sunday, he’ll probably pass Arnie next month at Bay Hill where Arnie plays the role of host. There’s a nice symmetry to that.

And the talk of a Grand Slam is growing, fueled by the fact Tiger said he thinks it’s within reach this year. There was a time when the suggestion would have been outrageous.

Not anymore.