AUGUSTA, Ga. — We know at least one thing about Tiger Woods that hasn't changed: He still doesn't have to play his best golf to get into contention at a major championship.

Woods proved that with one of the most Jekyll-and-Hyde weekends of his career at the 74th Masters. He made seven birdies in Saturday's third round but didn't break 70 and lost ground to the leaders. His highlight video from Sunday's final round might convince you that Woods shot 64 and won this Masters by six strokes. A package of his bad shots from the same round would make you think he's a 3-handicapper who shot 89. The truth was somewhere in between: this was one of the ugliest rounds of three-under-par you've ever seen.

Skeptics who doubted that Tiger could survive 72 holes of Augusta National this week got a boost right off the first tee when he pull-hooked his opening drive into the adjoining ninth fairway. His 40-yard pitch from in front of the green — a bread and butter shot for an in-form Tiger — was lucky to remain on the back fringe of the green and led to a bogey that put an immediate crimp on his chances to win, and sent exactly the wrong message to the leaders, Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood, that he wasn't going to breathe down their necks.

Still, Woods still has the never-say-die spirit in him. When he holed out with a wedge from the seventh fairway for an eagle — a kind of I-can-top-you-Phil moment after Mickelson's hole-out for eagle at the 14th on Saturday, the loudest roar of the week — then followed it up with birdies at the eighth and ninth holes, it appeared he might still be a factor. But that was as close as Tiger ever got.

He played Plinko in the trees right of the 11th fairway but looked likely to escape unscathed after hoisting a Grade A recovery shot over the trees to five feet. Except he missed the par putt. Bundle the putts Woods missed from inside five feet on the weekend, and the held-together-with-baling-wire-and-twine swing he used still would've had him pushing Mickelson and Westwood to the bitter end.

The frustrations of his play, and maybe of this entire humbling week, finally boiled over at the 14th. He was out of it by then, four shots back, but he stiffed an approach shot to four feet. He barely caught a piece of the hole with the birdie putt, then walked over and without taking the time to properly set up, stabbed at the two-footer for par. He missed that one, too. Three putts from five feet. That's not a Tiger Woods we're familiar with.

Tiger Woods proved at Masters that he still doesn't need his best to contend

DORAL, Fla. (AP) — Not long after Tiger Woods returned home and starting practicing, the PGA Tour began checking with tournaments to make sure they were prepared to handle the hype over the world's No. 1 player getting back to golf.

That even includes tournaments he has never played.

"Historically, he hasn't played the week before the Masters," said Steve Timms, tournament director of the Houston Open, which is the week before the Masters. "But these are unusual times. We're prepared from a security and media standpoint. We've been watching the media closely, and we've had some weird ones."

Timms, like other tournament directors, are in touch with PGA Tour officials about who is applying for media credentials.

The more immediate focus is in Florida. Woods hasn't played at Innisbrook since Kelli Kuehne was his partner in 1996 at the old JCPenney Classic. Long before Woods was exposed for cheating on his wife, there had been increasing speculation that he was considering the Transitions Championship one of these years, although this doesn't appear to be one of them.

Even so, tournament director Gerald Goodman said tour officials contacted him last week.

"They described it as talking to all tournaments," Goodman said. "They gave no indication that they knew anything, they were just wanting to be thorough. They asked us if we had room for media. We're a large resort on a thousand acres. There's plenty of room."

Tournaments ready for Tiger's return

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Jack Nicklaus is going to appear at next month's Masters. He thinks Tiger Woods will as well.

Nicklaus said Wednesday that "it would surprise me" if Woods did not return to competitive golf in time for the Masters, a tournament the embattled world No. 1 has won four times in his career.

"I suspect he'll play something before Augusta," Nicklaus said behind the 18th green at PGA National, where the Honda Classic opens on Thursday. "Your guess is as good as mine. I'd be very surprised if he doesn't play something before Augusta."

Nicklaus has been reluctant to comment much about Woods since the saga involving revelations of infidelity began late last year, saying more than once that someone else's private life isn't any of his business. He reiterated that belief again Wednesday after finishing his Pro-Am round at the South Florida course he redesigned.

A person with knowledge of Woods' schedule told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Woods returned to his home near Orlando, Fla. over the weekend after a week of family counseling and resumed practicing for the first time in nearly four months.

Like many, Nicklaus seemed to take that as a sign that Woods could be back sooner than later. The Masters begins April 8.

"It would surprise me if he didn't," Nicklaus said. "I can't imagine in 100 years he's going to miss this. None of you guys do either. But I don't know. I don't know. I've been very noncommittal about anything because it's not my business. But as it relates to him playing golf, my guess is as a golfer he's going to want to try to play Augusta if he's got his other things in order."

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Nicklaus thinks Woods will play Masters

Honolulu — Tadd Fujikawa doesn't get many opportunities on the PGA Tour these days, so it was disappointing for the 19-year-old from Hawaii to fail to break par in both rounds and miss the cut in the Sony Open.

Next up is a big move, from one island to another, and a chance for Fujikawa to experience life on the tour...

Fujikawa headed for another island

The name has changed — nice knowing you, Mercedes; hello, SBS Championship — but last week's Hawaiian romp fulfilled its traditional role by kicking off the PGA Tour season with an enjoyable mix of jaw-dropping scenery and bushels of birdies. The tournament may have also heralded something more momentous: a new era in professional golf. This has only a little to do with the new grooves rule. The SBS was the first official Tour event that required reshaped grooves on irons with 25 or more degrees of loft, effectively reducing the amount of spin that can be imparted from the rough. Even with the wide fairways and huge greens of Kapalua's Plantation course, the early returns suggested that this year there will be an uptick in finesse, shotmaking and creative thinking, three skills lost as the Tour went caveman in the first decade of the 21st century.

By the end of the week Geoff Ogilvy had emerged as the most adroit early adopter, shooting a stellar six-under 67 on Sunday to pull out a one-stroke victory over Rory Sabbatini and reaffirm his standing as one of the most talented players in the game. But as has been the case since Black Friday (Nov. 27, 2009), Tiger Woods loomed large by his absence...

Ready or not, change has come to the PGA Tour

EAST LONDON, South Africa (AP) — Charl Schwartzel of South Africa won the Africa Open by one shot over countryman Thomas Aiken despite bogeying the final hole on Sunday.

Schwartzel had a 6-under 67 to finish at 20-under 272 at the East London Golf Club in the tournament co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour and the European Tour.

It was Schwartzel's fourth European Tour win after a run of good form that finally produced a victory...

Schwartzel wins Africa Open by 1 shot over Aiken

KAPALUA, Hawaii — The first day of the new PGA Tour season brought a Tiger Woods sighting.

"Right there, through those trees," a caddie said jokingly, pointing into the distance toward the Pacific Ocean, where a white yacht was cruising along the Maui coastline below Kapalua. "He's on his boat."

For a guy who hasn't been seen in more than six weeks, Woods seems to be everywhere. And while he isn't at the season-opening SBS Championship, his presence looms larger than ever.

Woods hasn't played this tournament since 2005, so his absence is not unusual. Last season began with a similar question - when would he return - only that was from knee surgery, and it was a matter of time. He is gone from golf now because of a shocking sex scandal that led him to take an "indefinite break" while he tries to save his marriage.

Indefinite could mean anything from two months to all year.

In the meantime, the PGA Tour faces a pivotal year in renewing title sponsorships and laying the groundwork for negotiations on a new television contract. The Americans have a Ryder Cup to defend in October. The major championship rotation features three of the most famous datelines in golf - Augusta, Pebble Beach and St. Andrews.

Every season contains questions, yet every answer winds its way back to one player.

Pat Perez was asked for his list of questions about 2010 on the PGA Tour, and he wasted no time rattling off two of them.

"When is Tiger coming back?" he said. "And where the hell is he?"...

Questions for a new season all start with Tiger