AUGUSTA (Georgia), April 7: Tiger Woods, whose golf mastery has made the unthinkable commonplace, goes for another piece of history in the sport this week by shooting for an unprecedented third consecutive Masters title.

The 27-year-old American would become the first man since 1956, and only the seventh ever, to capture the same major crown three years in a row. And no one has turned the trick at the fabled Augusta National Golf Club.

“I’m certainly looking forward to it,” Woods said last month in his final public appearances before the Masters. “It’s going to be a heck of a challenge but hopefully one I’m prepared for.”

Masters completed the “Tiger Slam” in 2001 by capturing his second green jacket to hold all four major titles at once. That feat would surpass even a Masters triple, Woods said.

“Four in a row was bigger,” he said. “Nobody had ever won four.”

Woods joined Jack Nicklaus and England’s Nick Faldo as the only back-to-back winners by defending last year.

“It’s important to me because no one has ever done it before,” Woods said. “Jack and Nick are the only ones who had a chance. I have put myself in company where no one has been.”

Nicklaus missed the cut here in 1967 in his bid for three in a row. Faldo took back-to-back playoffs in 1989 and 1990 but took a back seat to Ian Woosnam of Wales the following year.

The last man to win the same major three years in a row was Peter Thomson, who captured the British Open title from 1954-1956.

No one has done it on American soil since Walter Hagen, whose run of four in a row came in 1924-1927 at the PGA Championship. The only other man in the past century with a triple was Willie Anderson at the 1903-1905 US Open.

Robert Ferguson and Jamie Anderson won three consecutive British Opens in the 1800s while Young Tom Morris captured four British Opens in a row in the 19th Century as well.

Woods has spent the past week preparing in private for the Masters at his golf resort home in Florida, where neighbor Mark O’Meara has seen firsthand what happens when Woods puts his focus on his game for a major.

“Getting ready for majors is what Tiger does best and at Augusta he has got the routine down,” O’Meara said.

Once again, Woods is ready to challenge golf history.

“I like my chances,” Woods said.—AFP