Golf Central

Tiger Woods is doing everything so easily right now, you start feeling numb until he does something else that dumbfounds you. Friday at Doral was no exception.

How many eagles have you ever made in your life? One? Two? A couple dozen? Well, the Big Cat beat the hell out of Doral again on Friday with a 66 that featured a pair of eagles. That's the first time since last year's Buick Invitational that Tiger has had two eagles in a single round, but also the 14th time in his career he's done so ...

Tiger's eagles on Friday were of completely different varieties. On the first hole (Tiger's 10th), Woods made a garden-variety eagle, stiffing a 7-iron and making the putt. On No. 12, he holed out from a bunker.

Geoff Ogilvy, the 2006 US Open champion and a straight-shooting Aussie, has nothing but admiration for the man himself. "How can you not enjoy playing with the guy who's on his way to being the best golfer of all time? It's a thrill," Ogilvy said.

As for Tiger himself, he'll play in the final group with Ogilvy and his best mate, but based on the control of his emotions and game he's showing now, there's likely no stopping him.

After Johnny Miller suggested on NBC television that maybe Tiger would be better off to get his winning streak broken so that he could concentrate on the Masters, Tiger said: "I just can't see being that negative."

And he smiled as ominous a smile as only Tiger can: Sweet and menacing at the same time.

Huh?: Everyone's a golf expert in their own mind, but some people really make us scratch our heads sometimes. Consider the guy we ran across the other day in a bar. Big, athletic guy wearing nice tailored golf duds who had just come in off a course, confident and brash, and full of opinions.

Watching Steve Stricker make a bogey at Doral, Our Pal said: "That guy Steve Stricker is the biggest waste of talent in golf."

Again, huh? ... OK, perhaps Stricker may not have made the most of the most elusive of abilities in golf, the ability to make putts from anywhere. And OK, he's only won four times on the PGA Tour and his best finish in a major is fifth. But Stricker has been injured often, and let's face it, he makes up for in good grace what he lacks on his CV. Stricker is quite simply one of the nicest professional athletes you'll ever meet.

And as far as wasted talent is concerned, have you not seen John Daly?

International Appeal Part II: Despite the fact that the World Golf Championships are pretty much only ever contested in the United States, making them more "mini-majors" than world championships, the quality of the fields in these events is truly mind- and globe-spinning.

In the list of a half-dozen players within six shots of the lead at Doral, there is only one American, and he's the one you'd expect: Tiger Woods. There are also two Aussies, a Swede and a Dane.

And there is also one Indian. Jeev Milkha Singh, age 36, was the first Indian to play on the European Tour, on which he's won twice. And he's quietly putting together a streak of some of the most consistent top-level golf this season. He has two second-places on the Euro this season, and he's showing he belongs among the PGA Tour stars as well.

Jeev followed a 68 with a 70 and is tied for fourth going into the weekend, and with another strong finish, it won't belong before Jeev is the No. 1 golfing Singh in the world.

Comebackers: Yesterday we were blathering on about how we want you loyal golf fans to get behind Ryuji Imada, the unlucky Japanese ace, after he indirectly got the shaft from John Daly at Bay Hill. We asked you to root hard for him so he can get the Masters qualification he probably deserves.

OK, our man Ryuji didn't do so hot on Friday, dropping back to a tie for 20th after a 73. He wasn't alone: Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Martin Kaymer, Stewart Cink and Phil Mickelson all shot 74s on Friday as Doral toughened up.

Root harder, golf fans ...