Tiger Woods Streak Dies at Seven [J. Mark English]

MARANA, Ariz. (AP) -- Tiger Woods' winning streak is over no matter what tour he is playing. In a shocking end to a PGA Tour streak that began in July, Woods failed to notice a ball mark in the line of his 4-foot birdie putt that would have won his third-round match against Nick O'Hern. He missed the putt, then lost in 20 holes when the Australian saved par with a 12-foot putt Friday at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.

That finished off Woods, and the second-longest streak in tour history.

"I was so enthralled with the line, I didn't see the ball mark," he said. "I knew if I hit it left-center, the match would be over. It's my fault for not paying attention to detail."...

...It is rare that Woods makes such a gaffe, and misses such a short putt with so much riding on the outcome. One hole earlier, he hit a sand wedge to 5 feet and made the birdie putt to extend the match, completing a rally in which he was four holes behind after seven holes, and still trailed by three with eight holes left...

....Byron Nelson's record of 11 straight tour victories in 1945 again looks as untouchable as ever.

Woods had won seven in a row -- although the purity of the streak was in question because he had failed to win four times during that streak while competing on other tours -- and he will have to start over next month in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.

Comment -

It may be a good thing that Tiger's streak ended because Byron Nelson would have laughed at the thought his record could be broken. Tiger's streak would not have stood up to Nelson's. Nelson never took the time to play in Dubai, or to play in non PGA tournaments between his victories. Tiger Woods no doubt may be the best golfer of all time, but his side trips in between PGA tournaments do not make his streak stand anywhere near what Nelson did during his time.