Officially, it's the Target World Challenge.

Realistically, it's Tiger against the World, and it's not a fair fight.

The World is overmatched.

As of 2:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon — the moment Tiger Woods turned his final round in the tournament at Sherwood Country Club into the expected victory lap, extending his lead to eight strokes with two holes to play — the U.S. Census Bureau listed the estimated world population as 6,637,935,071.

That's 6,637,935,070 potential challengers in the golfing realm, and one Tiger Woods, and it's still a rout. In defiance of the math, the scales are tilted firmly in the direction of the one guy, and there's no reason to think they're going to tip in favor of the 6 billion-plus others any time soon.

Woods' firm grasp on the event he hosts — three wins in four years and four in six — is one measure of the degree to which he dominates his sport. Leading PGA Tour money leaders in eight of the last 11 years is another.

But that merely measures what he has already done. Sunday's win at Sherwood, in the way it came and the way Woods and his competitors reacted, is the indication why the status seems so likely to remain quo.

Briefly put, when the tournament unexpectedly — albeit briefly — crept into the realm of the actually competitive, there was only one player who seemed ready for it.

It was, of course, Woods.

After he bogeyed No. 9, his lead over Jim Furyk was down to two strokes. His mental edge, though, was intact.

"I kept reminding myself," Woods said afterward, "that I still had the lead and Jim had to come get me.

"You try to put a spin on it, try to make it real positive, that even though I made two bogeys there on the front nine, I still was even par on the day. It wasn't like I was backing up or shooting over par. So if I could shoot two, three, four under on the back nine, I could still win the tournament."

But while Woods was finding ways to regain his emotional equilibrium, Furyk was about to lose his. After two good shots on No. 10, Furyk was five feet from a birdie, a one-stroke deficit and some real excitement. But a moment later, he was four strokes back.

"I started thinking too much about making it," Furyk said of the birdie putt, "and I go 4 feet by and missed it coming back."

Game, set and match.

"My attitude probably wasn't as good as I needed on the back nine," Furyk said. "I talked yesterday about staying patient, not pressing the issue, and after 10, I think I started pressing the issue a little bit. And it bit me."

Meanwhile, Zach Johnson, who would eventually catch Furyk for second place, was never really thinking about overhauling the leader.

"I don't know if that guy knows what pressure is," said Johnson, "so I don't know if I could put it on him."

He couldn't. Who can?

Along with the best skill set in the game, Woods has the best mental outlook, and that's a pretty unbeatable combination.

It allowed Woods, after shooting 22 under to tie a tournament record, to focus on the flaws in his game — not to bemoan them, but to embrace the opportunity they represent.

"Obviously I've got a lot of room for improvement, which is a great sign," he said. " Just imagine if I could hit the ball the way I wanted to."

His competitors would prefer not to, just as they'd prefer not to dwell on what it means to have Woods win by seven strokes after a 10-week layoff.

"Doesn't help us, does it?" said Colin Montgomerie, who tied for eighth, 16 strokes back. "If he took a bloody year off, it would help. Never mind 10 weeks."

Of course, as Furyk pointed out, that idea of a 10-week layoff is a bit misleading.

"It's not like he was sitting on the couch eating Cheetos," said Furyk. " He's obviously the best in the world and has more talent and also a harder work ethic than most people, but he and the great players, Nicklaus, have the ability to take that time off and come back. I'm sure he prepared at home and he wanted to show up at his own event and play well."

He did, of course.

And even when he didn't, when a shot went awry, well, Woods saw that in a positive light, too.

"The great thing is my bad ones aren't as bad as they used to be," he said. ". I hit a couple bad tee shots today where I'm like, That wasn't very good, and it's right in the middle of the fairway.

"That wasn't the case before. As you've seen before, my misses used to be over trees and off houses and stuff like that."

So he's got the best skills, and he's getting better. He's got the best attitude, and there's no reason that should change.

And that is why, in on going match between Tiger and the rest of the world, he's out in front and 6.6 billion people are fighting for second place.

— Contact Star columnist David Lassen at dlassen@VenturaCountyStar.com.