TIGER EVOLVES WOODS FINALLY COMFORTABLE AFTER REBUILDING HIS SWING FOR THE SECOND TIME.

Byline: Dave Shelburne Staff Writer

He has won in the wind at the British Open, in the fog at the Buick Invitational and under suffocating pressure as a first-time professional at the Masters.

This week, Tiger Woods takes on the rain and Riviera Country Club in another attempt to win his first pro golf tournament in his hometown.

He comes into the Nissan Open rested and with a swing he says finally is coming around after a year of retooling. That would be Woods' second major overhaul in seven years despite a game so fundamentally solid he has won 41 times in less than 10 full seasons on the PGA Tour.

The fine-tuning - which stalled his progress in 1998, after a record- breaking victory in the '97 Masters, and again last year, after seven more major championships - says much about Woods' desire to become as good a player as possible.

It also acknowledges the improving quality of his opposition, which has risen with the bar Woods has raised.

Jack Nicklaus, the man whose records Woods has been tracking since he joined the tour in 1996, is remembered much for his battles with the other members of golf's Big Three of the 1960s - Arnold Palmer and Gary Player.

More than a generation of inflation later, Woods laughs at the notion of a Big Four.

``You guys always hear about the Big Four,'' he said of his inclusion with Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els at the top of the pro game. ``What about Goose.''

Two-time and reigning U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen, as well as Singh, Mickelson, Els and plenty of others, are the reason Woods has been so willing to temporarily step backward twice in order to get better.

``No doubt about it,'' he said after winning the Buick three weeks ago in his most recent tour start, ``it is tougher to win out here than when I first played in '96 and '97. And it's going to get tougher each and every year.

``The field is getting deeper. We have more guys playing well at the same time, but we don't always play the same events.''

The Nissan Open is attracting a field that includes 36 of the top 50 players in the world rankings. Singh, who moved past Woods as Player of the Year and No. 1 in the world last season, won't be at Riviera. Nor will Els, another two-time U.S. Open champion. Nor Mickelson, who has won the past two tour stops, shooting a record-tying 60 in the FBR Open and a record-setting 62 in the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

But Goosen, ranked No. 5 in the world and winner of last year's Tour Championship, will be at Riviera. So will ninth-ranked Mike Weir, the 2003 Masters champion who has won the past two Nissan titles and finished a hard-charging second at Pebble Beach on Sunday.

Woods comes in on a rested roll, having cobbled together three wins, a second and a third in his past five tournaments over the span of 10 weeks before taking a three-week break.

He won the Dunlop Phoenix on Nov. 21 in Japan with perhaps his sharpest tournament of the 2004 season and took second in the Skins Game the next week. Then he won his own Target World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club in December, hit the ball well enough to win in a third-place finish at the tour-opening Mercedes Championships in January, and outlasted flitting fog and his own inconsistent ball-striking to prevail in the Buick.

``Tiger could have won there,'' Els said of the Mercedes Championships, where Woods struggled only on the greens, missing many putts inside 10 feet and finishing two strokes behind winner and No. 11 in the world Stuart Appleby, who also is at Riviera this week.

Woods said his 2004 season of swing restructure - which contributed to him winning just once, at the Accenture Match Play Championship - has led to subtle improvements, like missing in the correct spots in the final round of the Buick.

``I didn't hit it my best, there's no doubt about that,'' he said of that foggy Sunday.

But he felt good enough about his mechanics that he could place his misses and stay in position to win with his short game.

``That's the difference, is I can place my misses,'' said Woods, who secured that victory with a downhill, 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole.

Tom Lehman, who tied for second in the Buick, played in the final group with Woods and came away impressed more for the grit than good shots.

``He definitely didn't play his best golf this week,'' said Lehman, who was tied with Woods with two holes to play. ``I've played with him the last 36 holes and he mis-hit a lot of shots. I think he just kind of proved what a great competitor he is with his phenomenal short game.''

After 15 months without a stroke-play win on tour, Woods was happy for any kind of victory - and happy with the ripening fruit of a year's worth of swing rebuilding.

``I had a bunch of things I needed to work on and try to solidify,'' he said, ``and each and every day was a task to try to figure out what I needed to work on that particular day. But as the year progressed, the checklist got shorter and shorter. And consequently, results started improving.''

Dave Shelburne, [phone]

dave.shelburne(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(color) Tiger Woods hopes a year of developing a new swing - his third - will help him win the Nissan Open this week in his hometown.

Donald Miralle/Getty Images

Box:

NISSAN OPEN