2005 Cialis Western Open Woods a Western Gunslinger By TheGolfChannel.com Team - June 27, 2005 The putts just wouldn’t drop for Tiger Woods. They went every which way to circumvent the holes at Pinehurst No. 2. And when he finally got one to fall on the final hole on Sunday, it just wasn’t enough. Tiger Woods is in search of his fourth Western Open title in his last eight starts.With his dreams of a Grand Slam deferred to another year, Woods returns to action at Cog Hill Golf and Country Club for the Cialis Western Open. Two weeks removed from his runner-up finish to Michael Campbell in the U.S. Open, Woods will try and gear up his game for another major run, as he is just two weeks away from the Open Championship at St. Andrews. This will mark the only competitive event for Woods in between the season’s second and third major championships. And while Cog Hill’s Dubsdread Course in no way resembles the Old Course at St. Andrews, this could be the tune-up Tiger needs as he vies for his second Open Championship victory. Woods has won this tournament three times. Yet he’s not the defending champion. That distinction goes to Stephen Ames. Ames kept Woods from repeating a year ago, eventually winning by two strokes over Steve Lowery. Tiger Woods is in search of his fourth Western Open title in his last eight starts. It was Ames’ first PGA Tour victory, and his only one to date. In 25 starts since winning the Western, he has recorded only three top-10s. His lone top-10 finish this season came at the MCI Heritage. Ames’ recent performance, combined with the fact that Woods and Jerry Kelly are the only players in the last 10 years to finish inside the top 25 the year after they won the Western, don’t put him on the short list of favorites. On the other hand, Woods is at the top of that list. Five for the Title: Tiger Woods Just because Woods has had past success at a course doesn’t mean he’s going to factor into the final outcome (see this year’s Byron Nelson). But considering he has won this tournament three times (1997, ’99, ’03) in his last seven tries, it’s a good bet that he’ll somehow be among the final groups on Sunday. But where he finishes will likely depend on how he starts. Woods has played this tournament nine times, including twice as an amateur. Three times he shot in the 60s in the first round; and all three times he has won.