HOME WORK TIGER WOODS IS ONE OF GOLF'S BIGGEST WINNERS EVER, BUT THE SOCAL NATIVE HAS YET TO TASTE VICTORY IN THE NISSAN OPEN.

Byline: Dave Shelburne Staff Writer

He's won every one of golf's four major championships - the Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship - all of them at least twice, and those after winning three consecutive U.S. Amateurs.

He's won Jack Nicklaus' tournament, Arnold Palmer's tournament, Byron Nelson's tournament and the Players Championship.

He's won 10 World Golf Championship events, won in 10 countries, won 57 times worldwide and won 47 times on the PGA Tour, where he has placed first in nearly every top tournament.

This week, Tiger Woods returns to Riviera County Club, looking for his first hometown victory in 10 tries as a professional.

The former Southern California junior golf legend, who won three consecutive U.S. Junior Amateurs growing up in nearby Orange County, is now the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world. He tees off Thursday in the Nissan Open - which he has never won, at Riviera or Valencia Country Club, where he lost in a playoff to Billy Mayfair in 1998.

This Nissan, however, could shape up as tough for the rest of a world- class field as tournament history shows it has for Woods.

``If he is in a tournament, it is certainly on your mind that if he's on his game, he is going to be very difficult to beat,'' said defending Nissan champion Adam Scott. ``Even if he is not on top of his game, he is going to be very difficult to beat.''

Woods arrives undefeated for 2006, rested and, perhaps as importantly, with a feeling of tremendous satisfaction. He is coming off an achievement he regards as more important than anything he has accomplished in the game he loves and has dominated since joining the PGA Tour in 1996.

Woods took time off from golf last week - after back-to-back playoff wins at the Buick Invitational and Dubai Desert Classic - to attend to opening-day ceremonies of his Tiger Woods Learning Center in Anaheim.

Returning to Dad Miller Golf Course, where he played in high school, Woods joined former president Bill Clinton and Maria Shriver, wife of California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, in dedicating a 35,000 square-foot facility that will offer children after-school programs in technology, math and science.

``This is bigger than golf,'' Woods said at Friday's opening ceremonies adjacent to the Dad Miller course. ``This is bigger than anything I have done on the golf course, because we will be able to shape lives.''

``I'm impressed Tiger Woods decided to do this when he was 30 instead of when he was 60,'' Clinton said of the center, which is expected to provide learning opportunities for 5,000 children this year.

``I felt we weren't doing enough,'' said Woods, who has conducted junior clinics in tour-stop cities throughout the country since turning professional but wasn't satisfied with the short connection time necessitated by the touring nature of his profession.

Three and a half years ago, he began to plan for the learning center, donating the first $5 million and continuing to help bring in financing through his annual Target World Challenge invitational tournament at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks.

With the learning center on line, Woods turns his focus this week to one of the few blank spots on his tour resume - a Nissan Open he came closest to winning in the '98 playoff at Valencia.

In Nissans at Riviera, Woods said at last year's event, his consistency has been lacking.

``In order to win, you have to play well and I haven't played well for four straight days,'' he said.

Dave Shelburne, [phone]

dave.shelburne(at)dailynews.com

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