By Bob Harig
Special to ESPN.com
Tuesday, April 10

The advantages are too numerous to count, the skills so superior. Tiger Woods gets into contention, and those chasing him are running on a treadmill. To know you cannot make a mistake with Woods on his game makes the task all the more daunting.

Then there is this: Woods has been there, done that. He's won the major championships that others so dearly covet. He knows how to win; they only hope to.

	Tiger Woodsand caddie Steve Williams have celebrated together many times.

And it is with that in mind that Woods stalks history.

Having won four straight major championships and five of the last six, including Sunday's Masters, others must ask: How do we beat this guy?

Chris DiMarco gave a gallant try on Saturday, shooting an even-par 72 alongside Woods. But DiMarco was playing his fifth major, not trying to win his sixth.

"It does help," Woods said over the weekend about the huge amount of experience he possesses, even at age 25. "It does make you feel more at ease. I've been there before. I've won majors and lost majors. I know how to control my emotions, what to expect, what to feel. If you haven't been there, it's tough. I was very fortunate the year I won my first major."

That came at the 1997 Masters, where Woods won by a record 12 strokes. He entered the final round with an eight-stroke lead, and hardly had to worry about being challenged.

Since then, he went through a period of changing his game to become more consistent under pressure, and the results were apparent in 1999 with eight PGA Tour victories, including the PGA Championship. He had nine wins last year, including three straight majors. He added the history-making fourth in a row Sunday, giving nobody else the chance to learn what he knows.

He was chased by David Duval and Phil Mickelson, two players who might wonder what it would be like to live in a world without Woods. They are clearly the top players to challenge him, yet have trouble doing so.

There were some players in the hunt with major championship experience, including two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen, two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal, two-time U.S. Open champion Ernie Els and former British Open champion Mark Calcavecchia.

But none of them could make a move on Woods.

When Jack Nicklaus was on his way to winning 18 majors, he had to beat players who had defeated him. Arnold Palmer and Gary Player and Billy Casper. Lee Trevino and Johnny Miller and Tom Watson. All of those players won majors at Nicklaus' expense.

Since Woods won the 1997 Masters, only two other players -- Mark O'Meara and Vijay Singh -- have won multiple majors. And O'Meara is at the end of his career.

It's going to take someone who hasn't done it to break through.

"I would imagine it was the same way when people were competing against Jack Nicklaus and they beat him," Duval said. "And that's kind of where we are. We've got another player who is the best in the game. I think what it will do is make my victories in these majors that much more special."

If not that much more difficult.

Battling back
To see DiMarco falter down the leaderboard Sunday was probably not much of a surprise. Masters rookies typically have a hard time at Augusta National, and DiMarco appeared out of his league contending for the title.

But DiMarco made a nice move Sunday after falling behind on the front nine. Although he shot a disappointing 74, his birdies at the 16th and 18th holes were huge. They helped him secure a tie for 10th, which gets him a return invitation to The Masters. The top 16 players and tied are invited back. He also made $128,800.

"I learned a lot this week. I learned to slow down and be patient," said DiMarco, 32, who has one PGA Tour title. "It was fun. There was so much electricity out there all week. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to get back here next year."

Streaking
Former Masters champions Bernhard Langer and Fred Couples managed to keep alive their impressive streaks for cuts made at the tournament.

Langer, who won the tournament in 1985 and 1993, played the weekend for the 18th straight year. Couples, the 1992 champion, did so for the 17th straight year. But it wasn't easy. Couples made it right on the number of 145, and had to get down in two putts from 45 feet on the 18th green Friday afternoon.

"I can't say I wasn't thinking about it," Couples said. "I knew I had made every cut at The Masters. The streak is nice."

John Huston has the next-best streak at 12 in a row. Three-time Masters champion Gary Player holds the record of 23, having made the cut every year from 1959-1982.

Baby watch
Mickelson and his wife, Amy, are expecting their second child, but this time it won't conflict with a major championship. Mickelson said the due date is for early November.

"The timing should be pretty good," he said. The Mickelsons' first child, Amanda, was born June 21, 1999 -- the day after the final round of the U.S. Open, where Mickelson finished second to Payne Stewart. Mickelson had vowed to leave the tournament if his wife went into labor.

The only conflict this time around could be the season-ending Tour Championship, which Mickelson is the defending champion. It will be played Nov. 1-4 in Houston.

Thanks, but no thanks
For the second straight year, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player were paired for the first three rounds. None made the cut.

Asked if gets old playing in that group, Palmer said, "They are old, but it doesn't get old."

Nicklaus, however, does not like the idea. If left up to him, he would prefer the Big Three grouping no longer occur. It has typically been a Masters tradition to pair amateurs with past Masters champions.

"When I was a young kid, I always looked forward to playing with a Masters champion," Nicklaus said. "I think the kids would like to play with us. I don't think they should pair the three of us together every year. I'd enjoy playing with the young kids."

Bob Harig, who covers golf for the St. Petersburg Times, writes a column every Tuesday for ESPN.com.