Even when he appears beatable, no one beats Tiger

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AKRON, Ohio -- Good news. Tiger Woods is human.

He hit a wayward shot onto the roof of the Firestone clubhouse in Akron during the Bridgestone Invitational. He bogeyed four holes in a row for the first time since he was a tour rookie 10 years ago. He lost a three-shot lead with three holes to play. He yelled "Fore!" on several occasions. In a playoff with Stewart Cink, Woods missed two of the first three greens in regulation and bogeyed one of the holes. All in all, Woods looked mortal once again after a stretch in which he won three tournaments in a row, including two straight major championships, that made him appear nearly invincible once again.

Well, maybe he is invincible. Despite all those travails, Woods won again. Even an elite field of the world's finest players couldn't take down Woods. Cink made two clutch birdie putts near the end of regulation but missed a winner in the playoff. On the fourth extra hole, Woods drilled the winner. That's his fourth straight win. That's his 52nd PGA Tour victory just as he hit his 10-year anniversary of turning pro. In 10 years, he is already tied with Byron Nelson for fifth in all-time victories, and with 12 major titles he is already second only to Jack Nicklaus, who won 18.

Woods is amazing when he plays unbeatable golf. He was beatable last week at Firestone, but no one beat him. That may be just as amazing. Another amazing stat: Obviously, the career money list is an outmoded measuring tool, but just for laughs, Woods has now won $6.6 million in the Bridgestone Invitational after capturing it for a fifth time. Nicklaus won $5.7 million in his entire career. All together now (except for Jack): Ha ha.

More good news: The fact that Cink and Jim Furyk, among a few others, challenged Woods may bode well for the U.S. Ryder Cup team. Cink was a wild-card selection for a second straight time and Furyk is already penciled in as the answer to the search for a partner Woods can win with. There is plenty of time to overanalyze the Ryder Cup showdown later, but to win, the Americans will need some hot hands. Woods, Furyk, Cink and David Toms, who seems to be regaining form, are a good sign. Phil Mickelson struggling with his game isn't. Still, the U.S. team may be in a position to do to the Euros what the Euros used to do to them -- ride their best horses hard and scrape up just enough other points to win. When the Euros used to field a team that wasn't as deep as the U.S. lineup, they sent their star players out for all five matches. The Americans likely will do that with the aforementioned fivesome. That's all it takes to even out the competition.

In another Ryder Cup footnote, Lucas Glover and Davis Love III played well and tied for fourth at Firestone. U.S. captain Tom Lehman passed them over in favor of Cink and Scott Verplank.

By the way, it won't be easy for Woods to try to make it five in a row this weekend at the Deutsche Bank Classic in Boston. He's flying to Ireland with most of the rest of the American Ryder Cup squad for a day or two of team-building camaraderie and practice at the K Club. So after back-to-back wins, one of them in a major, and a quick over-and-back across-the-Atlantic trip, he'll try to extend his winning streak. Never bet against him, even though he is human.