Bonk On Tiger's Preparation

Thomas Bonk looks at Tiger's success and in particular, some of the things that make him special.

Woods' preparation for such a scene of chaos begins quietly enough when he arrives at the course, typically about an hour and 15 minutes before the final round. He starts with his putting drill with the two tees and when he shifts to the driving range, he spends 30 to 40 minutes, beginning with a sand wedge and moving from the higher-lofted clubs to the lower-lofted clubs in his bag. Then he returns to the putting green for a final warmup before going to the first tee.

It is Williams' duty to bring a copy of the pin sheets to Woods at the driving range, showing the precise location of the pins on each green. Woods studies them, then practices as if he is hitting toward each pin, allowing him to decide what kind of shots to hit to every green while he's still on the range. This preparation method is unique to Woods.

His last shot on the driving range is the first shot he'll hit at the first tee. On Sunday, he rocketed a five-wood at the range, duplicated the shot at the first tee and was off and running.