Stricker finds comfort level when paired with Woods

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Steve Stricker: "Back when [Tiger] first came out and I was trying to stack up my game with his, it didn't stack up. I'm over that."

NORTON, Mass. -- Y.E. Yang showed us last month that you don't have to be intimidated when you're paired in the final round of a major with Tiger Woods. Steve Stricker is showing us that you don't have to be intimidated. At any time. In any round. On any course.

In fact, Stricker is showing us that it's OK to actually look forward to playing with Tiger -- and that it's possible to make a positive impression on him, rather than the usual other way around.

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Consider Friday's first round at the Deutsche Bank Championship. Woods didn't like much of what he saw out of his own game en route to a 1-under 70. He did, however, like just about everything he saw from Stricker.

"It was unbelievable," Woods said, noting Stricker's accurate driving, crisp iron shots and center-cut putts. "We thought he was going to shoot 62 at the turn the way he was going."

Stricker didn't. He fell one shot short, carding an 8-under 63 that's still good enough to share the first-round lead with Jim Furyk.

While Friday morning's pairing of Woods and Stricker (along with last week's winner of The Barclays, Heath Slocum, who shot 69) was likely nothing more than one world-class player having a great day and the other having a bad one, maybe there's some type of message there. Perhaps we need to watch closely this battle between Woods and Stricker as we move through the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, because it certainly seems like Stricker has the upper hand, however tenuous it might be.

Last week at Liberty National, Woods and Stricker played together in the first two rounds, thanks to their ranking as the top two guys on the FedExCup points list. (Then-No. 3 Zach Johnson rounded out the threesome). In the first round, Stricker shot 69 to Tiger's 70. In the second round, it was Stricker 70, Tiger 72.

And now Stricker has bested Woods by seven shots in a single round. No player since Henrik Stenson in the third round of the 2007 PLAYERS Championship has finished seven shots better than Woods when paired with the world's top player in any round.

It's not all that unusual for Woods to be bested early in tournaments. For example, take the first round of this year's British Open, when he shot 71 to the 68s posted by playing partners Lee Westwood and Ryo Ishikawa. Or in his next start at the Buick Open, when Todd Hamilton and Jonathan Byrd each shot first-round 69s to Woods' 71.

Stricker, Woods as partners?

Besides being paired with Tiger Woods in the Playoffs, Steve Stricker might just find himself paired with Woods in another event this year: in the Presidents Cup in October as potential partners on the U.S. team. "I think it would work great. I think I could ride him all the way," Stricker laughed. Then he added: "No, I think it would be a lot of fun. We've talked about it. It would be up to Freddie (Couples, U.S. Captain) to see if he'll put us together or not, but I think we'd have a lot of fun. Like I said, we've only talked about it, Tiger and I, but I would enjoy that."

Of course, Tiger went on to win that event, his mystique in full form the next day with a second-round 63.

Yet did the rules about Tiger's intimidation factor changed just a bit at the PGA Championship when Yang caught him on the final day with a 70 to Woods' 75 in a head-to-head battle down the stretch? Tough to say. Tiger was paired with Johnson in Sunday's final round at Liberty National; while Tiger shot 67 to challenge for the lead, Johnson faded to a 75.

Yet Stricker seems completely at ease with the idea of playing with Woods. Certainly he's had plenty of opportunities to get used to it in the Playoffs. Woods has played 17 Playoffs rounds, and has been paired with Stricker seven times. On four of those occasions, Stricker has posted the better score.

"I'm to the point where I'm comfortable with what I'm doing, and I'm really not worrying about him," Stricker said. "He's going to hit those great shots and he's going to make those great putts. I can't do anything about that."

It's a confidence thing with Stricker. He acknowledged that early in his career, he was trying to stack up his game against Woods'. But then he realized the folly of that approach. Once Stricker came to grips with the fact that Woods is at another level than anybody else who plays golf, then the pressure came off.

"It kind of freed me up a little bit to play with him," Stricker said.

Stricker certainly was looser than Tiger on Friday. Woods had a rare off-day; he couldn't make anything happen. His comfort level while standing over a tee shot was non-existent. Who knew that could happen to him?

"I felt terrible over any tee shot -- it didn't matter what club it was, whether it was an iron on a par 3 or a drive on any hole," Woods said. "I didn't feel great over any shot. It was one of those days."

And yet ...

"He still shot under par today and he grinded it out," Stricker said. "It's still a blast and fun to watch."

Stricker should get plenty of more chances to watch. Not only will he be paired with Tiger (and Slocum) again in Saturday's second round, but if they remain in the top three of the FedExCup points standings after this event, they'll be paired again at next week's BMW Championship. And it wouldn't be a surprise to see a Woods-Stricker pairing at East Lake.

And by then, maybe we shouldn't be surprised if Stricker winds up on top.