Could Tiger really go perfect this year?

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Wake up, golf fans, your two-week nap is over: The Tiger Tour returns.Chasing his fifth consecutive PGA Tour victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Tiger Woods opened with an even-par 72, putting him well behind the early leaders. But as he tries to match Ben Hogan with 64 career victories this weekend, expect even more talk about his quest for a "perfect season."That's absolutely crazy, as NBC announcer Dan Hicks said on a conference call Wednesday. This is golf. Nobody wins every event he or she enters for an entire calendar year -- not Hogan, not Byron Nelson, not Jack Nicklaus, not Annika Sorenstam. Not even Tiger Woods, right?Too many variables come into play for any semi-sane, semi-intelligent person to predict Woods will win each of the 17 or 18 tournaments he's expected to play in 2008. The weather could derail him (see the 2002 British Open). Or another player could get hot at the right time (see Phil Mickelson last year outside Boston). Or Woods' putter could grow cold at the wrong time (see the past two Masters).Still, it would be rollicking good entertainment if Woods won this week and followed with another victory next week at Doral. That would extend his streak to six -- seven if you count last month's European Tour event in Dubai -- and lead to two weeks of escalating hype before the Masters."He has to get through the next two weeks and then we can get really excited about it," NBC analyst Johnny Miller said. "Tiger obviously hasn't played that many events yet. If he goes 4-for-4 on the PGA Tour, gearing up for the Masters, it would get pretty interesting."For now, it's worth highlighting the ever-widening gap between the Tiger Tour and its obscure counterpart, Tournaments with Zero Buzz. No offense to Ernie Els and Sean O'Hair, but their victories the past two weeks might merit an asterisk to note Woods' absence.Television viewers are making their feelings clear. So far this year, Saturday and Sunday ratings for events with Woods in the field are more than 50 percent higher than ratings for events without him. Last year, the difference was 100 percent (including the majors) -- and 135 percent when he finished first or second.The atmosphere at the course also carries extra energy with Woods around. As Hicks put it, "There's an electricity when Tiger's there, and it's a totally different animal when he's not."Woods brings a curious history to Bay Hill, site of Palmer's tournament. He won there four consecutive years (2000-03), but he hasn't finished higher than a tie for 20th the past four years.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)