Preempting the slump talk

Should Tiger Woods fail to win the Players Championship this week (and his track record there suggests he won't win), it will mark three starts in a row without a victory. A cause for concern? No doubt some will sound the alarm, though before doing so they should consider this:

Every year of his professional career (save for 2008, when he played only six tournaments and won four of them), he's had a stretch of at least three tournaments in which he failed to win. In 2000, when he won nine times, he had three three-tournament stretches without winning.

Moreover every year since 2000 (again excluding 2008), he's had streaks of least five tournaments without winning.

-- John Strege