January 27, 2008 -- The 2008 Buick Invitational, what many believe will be a preview of the U.S. Open which will take place on the same course later this summer, was a Tiger Woods clinic on good golf. On a cool windy Sunday, the last round of the first Tour event in 08 played by both Tiger and Phil, was -- all Tiger. Tiger finished at 19 under to tie Arnold Palmer with 62 Tour wins. Amazing.

For the final round, Tiger was not particularly sharp with his irons, but he didn't have to be. Basically, due to his play the first three rounds where his game was firing on all pistons, he created a lead that very few players would let slip away, let alone the top player in the world. It was, in effect, a crowning march for 18 holes.

(Photo: WireImage.com)

But though the final round lacked suspense and drama, it certainly had some highlights. One of the most interesting shots of the tournament, and this week's A Lesson Learned, took place on the ninth hole where Tiger hit his approach shot well behind the green. His errant shot, 12 - 14 yards long of a green with a back right pin, meant he had short-sided himself. This is a tough recovery under any circumstance. But if you saw the conditions in which Tiger had to try his next shot, the odds of saving a par seemed incredibly remote.

Receiving a drop because of casual water, and then receiving a relatively good lie "in the soup" and trampled rough, Tiger hit a magical sand wedge that stopped about a foot from the pin. The lesson here is that he made quite a full swing, a full and still quiet swing, and the perfect execution of the shot had it land about two feet on the green before settling next to the cup.

Tiger's execution might not be the easiest to copy but his mindset can teach us all a lesson or two about such difficult shots:

(1) make sure that your next shot is a putt and not another chip where you might get a suspect lie

(2) make a long and full but quiet swing to land the ball with enough spin to have it stop quicker, especially when you have short-sided yourself..

It was vintage Tiger as he again made a par from a situation that required a "perfect shot" in order to do so. We have seen so many of these shots over the years that we now expect the unexpected when it comes to Tiger Woods. And with such a dominating performance, what type of "emotional memory" do you think the field will have of Tiger and Torrey Pines as the U.S. Open approaches?

I think it's also important to note that Tiger's incredible win was not about overpowering the course. Not many viewers probably noticed but Tiger showed a lot of patience all day. Even when he was considerably off with his distance control, he was able to save his score by the above-mentioned par save on no. 9, giving us the "bomb" he made for a birdie on the 11th (the two-tiered and a very big sweeping right to left 50 footer which found the center of the cup) and quite a few other great saves.

So think of that as an additional lesson learned. Tiger Woods uses it all to win, both precision play and creative mastery with his short game when the full swing lets an errant shot come out. What a great lesson for all of us -- get more time in practicing the short game. If you do, your scores will show it.

I believe that Tiger Woods has not seen his best golf yet, but he is about to get there. Kind of deflates the rest of the field for 2008, wouldn't you think? If the rotation is right, he may seriously contend for a grand slam year. If he plays like he did this week, who's to say he couldn't.

Jeff Thomsen is an accomplished PGA Professional who has played on several golf tours, including over 130 PGA, Nike, and Champions Tour events and four major championships. Thomsen was the 2003 PGA Senior Professional National Champion is currently involved in teaching and talking golf in a variety of media outlets. Thomsen can be reached at the Jeff Thomsen Signature Golf Academy in Boise, Idaho.