Woods charts a major course

AUGUSTA, GA. —  The winner of the last two major championships has a lot on his mind right now, with the Masters only a couple of days away. Tiger Woods is thinking about hitting the ball straight, trying to solve the sloping greens at Augusta National Golf Club, planning on how to stay away from the bunkers, trees and water.

There’s a lot to work out, all under the weight of the year’s first major championship, so Woods is going about the task in his typical businesslike fashion, practicing a lot, revealing little.

And the one topic at the bottom of Woods’ conversation list? Making it three consecutive major victories.

Woods wore his game face Tuesday, a comfortable expression for him, especially when asked about something he doesn’t want to acknowledge. He’s not, he said, thinking about winning the next two majors.

“No, I’m thinking about trying to place my ball around this golf course, that’s about it,” he said.

“My whole preparation is getting the ball in play and putting the ball on the correct parts of the green and getting the speed of these things ... and that’s it.”

Despite his disclaimer, chances are that Woods is spending some time thinking about another victory at the Masters, which he has already won four times. There are simply too many numbers to suggest otherwise.

Woods has won 12 major titles, including the last two -- the British Open and PGA Championship in 2006. That means he’s halfway to a second so-called Tiger Slam, holding all four major titles at the same time, though not in the calendar year. He has experience in this category, winning the U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship in 2000 and the Masters in 2001.

Arnold Palmer remembers his best shot at the Grand Slam in 1960, when he won the first two majors of the year, the Masters and the U.S. Open at Cherry Hills near Denver.

“I started it,” he said. “Or at least the talk about. But I lost the British Open” to Kel Nagle at St. Andrews. “That ended that....

“Did I think anyone would hold all four major titles the same time? Sure I did. Me.

“But it’s going to be difficult for Tiger because you’ve got to avoid even the slightest meltdown in any one of his next, what, 16 rounds? The slightest meltdown and it’s over. And that’s not even counting what the other players can do, get hot, because he has no control over that.

“After all that, can Tiger do it? Well, I’m not saying he won’t. I’m dumb, but I’m not foolish.”

Meanwhile, Woods’ preparation for taking another run at his self-named slam is solid. He has played only three stroke-play PGA Tour events this year and won two of them: the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines in January and the CA Championship at Doral two weeks ago.

“I’ve hit the ball well, my practice sessions at home and so far this week,” he said. “I’m getting better each day.”

Woods is giving himself a day off today, but he practiced nine holes Sunday at Augusta on his own and played 18-hole practice rounds Monday with J.J. Henry and Tuesday with Mark O’Meara. His first-round tee time Thursday is at 10:52 a.m. PDT in a pairing with Paul Casey and Aaron Baddeley.

Woods is marking the 10-year anniversary of his first Masters victory, when he won by a record 12 shots in 1997. Woods set 20 tournament records that year, after Palmer and Jack Nicklaus played a practice round with Woods and predicted great things for the 21-year-old.

Gary Player, who is playing in his 50th Masters, said Woods has put himself on a different level.

“Golf just doesn’t allow you to have a meteoric rise, whoever you may be,” he said. “Tiger is looking like he’s an exception.

“When we played against Jack, we were not scared of Jack. If Jack made a mistake, we pounced on him and beat him. But Tiger just seems so, I don’t know, he separates himself from the field.”

Woods had only one three-putt when he won in 1997. He said it’s not going to be any easier this week on Augusta National’s daunting putting surfaces.

“I’ve played Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and they have been three different speeds,” he said. “As usual around here, they change things a little bit.

“This course, the amount of break you have to play and the creativity you have to use when you read your putts, it’s different from anything you have ever played. You just don’t find slopes this speed. You try as best you can ... putt on your kitchen floor, but nothing really prepares you for how much the ball rolls out. You hit a good putt, you think it’s going to be a foot or two past the hole and all of a sudden it rolls out to three, four, five feet. Wait a minute.”

The wait is just about over for Woods, and for defending champion Phil Mickelson, challengers Vijay Singh, Ernie Els and Adam Scott, and anyone else with a vested interest in a green jacket. The major issue at stake is simple: It’s two down and two to go for Woods, and the Masters starts Thursday.

thomas.bonk@latimes.com