Tiger must drive well to win his 4th British Open

Published Jul. 21, 2009 1:39 a.m. ET

foxsports

The downside of being Tiger Woods — if such a thing exists — is that when the stars and moon are your playground, earthly achievements can pale by comparison.

downlevel descriptionThis video requires the Adobe Flash Player. Download a free version of the player.

It's easily forgotten, as the curtain is about to lift on the season's third major on Scotland's west coast, that although Woods failed to win at either Augusta or Bethpage Black, he remains the only player to have three victories on the PGA Tour this year.

Given the back story of a risky major knee reconstruction, Woods enters the Britsh Open — a championship he's won three times — with the view that his comeback has, so far, been a success.

Not just a success, but a "tremendous success," as he characterized it Tuesday at Turnberry, venue of the 138th Open Championship.

"I remember looking at the year and just trying to get back to playing (thinking), 'Hopefully I can play and hopefully I can play at a high level,' " he said.

"And to sit here and say I was going to have thee wins halfway through the year, if anyone would have looked at my situation, they would have said you probably might be reaching a little bit.