WESTERN OPEN Tiger cruises to fourth win, snapping 3-month 'slump'

Rich Beem placed second, finishing five strokes behind.
LEMONT, Ill. (AP) -- The British Open is still two weeks away, and already there's bad news for the field.
And it has nothing to do with the weather forecast.
All that work Tiger Woods has been doing on his game the last couple of months is finally coming together, just in time for the year's third major.
Woods grabbed control of the 100th Western Open in the first round and never let go, winning his fourth tournament of the year and 38th PGA Tour title in a romp. He won by five strokes Sunday, but it wasn't even that close.
"It's certainly a shot of confidence, no doubt about it," he said. "Any time you win, you've got to feel pretty good about it. As I said, the things I've been working on are starting to come together.
"Hopefully they'll come together more so at the British Open than they did this week."
Slow spell
After winning three of his first four events this year, Woods went the next 3 1/2 months without a victory. He didn't contend at the Masters or the U.S. Open, and is without one of the four major titles for the first time in four years.
Surely, some people said, that meant Woods was in a slump. Or at least a deep funk.
"The slump talk, I'm sure that's going to be how it is my entire career," he said. "If I don't win for a few weeks, then all of the sudden I'm back in it again."
But Woods sure didn't look like a guy in a slump at the Western. His 69 Sunday put him at 21-under 267 for the tournament, matching the record set in 2001 by Scott Hoch.
He also matched the single-round record with a 63 on Thursday.
No contest
He led the entire tournament, the first wire-to-wire victory at the Western since Nick Price in 1993 and the fifth of Woods' career. He's also the fifth three-time winner at the Western, the oldest stop on the PGA Tour.
"We've got a guy who's superhuman out here this week," said Rich Beem, who finished second to Woods. "There's going to be times when he does this to fields, but that's OK."
Beem, winner of last year's PGA Championship, tried to make things interesting with three birdies and an eagle in his first five holes on the back nine to pull within five shots of Woods.
But that was merely a diversion to the inevitable.
"He just kind of got in a groove," said Beem, who shot a 67. "When you get into a groove, golf seems really easy and fun, and for him, it's even easier than it is for everyone else. Obviously, he's got unbelievable amounts of game."