We saw earlier this week that the golf.com angle about Tiger Woods' performance at the Masters was that he might completely revamp his swing, fire Hank Haney, etc.

That argument was made five years ago when Woods had his worst PGA Tour season and was on his way to losing to world number one ranking to Vijay Singh.  Woods bounced back, as you well know, and figured out how to implement the Haney-inspired swing with dominating results.

The argument is back in Jaime Diaz's piece about Woods' tournament performance.  I don't want to focus on that, though.  Rather, it is Diaz's excellent point about Woods' obsession with winning the final four major championships to tie Jack Nicklaus' mark of 18.

[T]he internal pressure that Woods carries in majors—which at his best he tempers with an air of serenity—seemed palpable at Augusta. Dealing with it is likely going to remain a vital issue as Woods gets older. At this point in his career, Woods plays almost exclusively to win majors, which makes them an essentially all-or-nothing proposition. He indirectly made this clear when explaining why he voted for Padraig Harrington for PGA Tour Player of the Year in 2008, even though in less than half a season he compiled more victories and was more consistent. "Paddy won two. End of ­story," Woods said. When only winning can bring pleasure, and everything else produces displeasure, that's ­pressure.

This is a fantastic observation - one that you often don't see, but kind of know implicitly.  Woods, like Nicklaus, plays to the majors.  He plays to peak around them so that he can win them. 

For Nicklaus, by the time he had reached this plateau in his career it was clear that he was the greatest major champion in golf history.  He had little to prove to anyone.  Every major championship win was a bonus.  As the gambling term goes, Nicklaus was playing with "house money."

At Woods' 33 years, it is not evident that he is the best ever.  He still has to win four more majors - in his mind - before he can consider himself on par with his idol.  His age, though still young, when combined with the knee surgery and rehab may have him pressing more than ever to win major championships.

In the Masters, Woods tried the patient approach with his swing and strategy.  When Chad Campbell and the rest of the field went low on day one, Woods' traditional Masters strategy to "not lose the tournament on day one" turned out to cost him the tournament.  He was so far back by being conservative and respectful of the lengthened Augusta that it would be near impossible for him to comeback.

In fact, Woods once tried and true patience at Augusta doesn't seem to work as well for him anymore at the National.  Almost ironically, the lengthened Augusta has forced Woods into a very defensive position at the Masters.  For the past couple of years, it nearly paid off with runner up finishes.  This year, when scoring conditions were better and the course was set up to yield birdies, Woods did not switch gears to go on the offensive.  In the end, that cost him.

The question going into Bethpage in two months will be if Woods has a strategy and a swing that will work in the US Open.  He is the defending champion of both the championship and the venue.  Perhaps the good vibes of both will provide him with the confidence and collection that it will require to defend his US Open title for the first time in his career.