Methodical, clinical, resolute, brilliant.

On a day when all his emotions must have been bubbling together beneath his amazingly calm exterior and with the image of his father no doubt vivid in his mind, Tiger Woods plotted a steady course through the scorched links of Hoylake, again without needing his driver and only briefly feeling the heat that a typically resolute Chris DiMarco applied midway through the back nine. The victory gave Woods his third British Open championship and his 11th major title.

The day started with Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia, Jim Furyk, and Angel Cabrera hoping to apply some heat of their own, but their rather weak collective effort hindered Tiger’s progress about as much as the fleeting moment of light rain that hit the area this week.

As Tiger boarded the 12th tee, an inconsequential drizzle moved in from the west but petered out as quickly as most of his nearest challengers’ efforts to rein him in.

It was left to Florida’s DiMarco, dealing with the loss of his mother earlier this month and with his father and son in attendance, to provide some spirited competition, just as he did at Augusta National in last year’s Masters.After holing a 20-footer for par at the 11th, he sunk a monster putt at the par three 13th for birdie that took him within one of Woods, who was making his only bogey of the round at the tough par four 12th, the most difficult hole on the course.

DiMarco, who had missed seven cuts and finished no higher than 22nd since sustaining a skiing injury in March, then holed another lengthy putt for a par at the 14th. After a brilliant up-and-down at the 16th and another birdie on the 18th, he was home in 33 and round in 68. Someone at least was making Woods earn his third Claret Jug.

“I never go away,” DiMarco said afterward, astatement Woods would no doubt agree with and which will also be music to Tom Lehman’s ears. The Ryder Cup captain was annoyed that one of the game’s grittiest performers had chanced his arm, or, in this case, his ribs, by skiing during a Ryder Cup year. But with the 360 points DiMarco earned for his runner-up finish at Hoylake (15 fewer than John Rollins received for winning the B.C. Open in New York, incidentally), he leapt into sixth position in the U.S. standings, going a long way to securing his position on the team.

Woods, of course, tops the list and will surely remain there between now and August 20, when the team is announced, if he compiles any more closing rounds as classy as the one he pieced together yesterday.

Favoring a long iron to keep the ball out of the rough and away from the perilously deep bunkers, Woods hit 15 greens in regulation and missed only one fairway, giving him a remarkable 85.7% stat for the week. His putting, which had been somewhat disappointing during Saturday’s third-round 71, never wavered. Five one-putt greens and no three-putts saw him record a five-under 67, the lowest final round score in relation to par since Justin Leonard’s six-under 65 at Royal Troon nine years ago.

This was certainly a win for strategy and precision over all-out power, and one wonders if the apparent ease with which Woods got to 18-under par at one of Britain’s sternest tests after using his driver only once (on the 16th hole on Thursday) might persuade him to throttle back more often and try to keep the ball on the fairway — a position from which many believe he can’t be beaten.

Whatever tactics he employs in the future, Woods will continue to enjoy the significant mental advantage he has over his peers that seemingly evaporated in 2003 and 2004 but returned with a vengeance last year after he became confident with his new swing. Not for the first time, those who found themselves closest to Tiger near the top of the leaderboard when it mattered just didn’t display the necessary tools to overcome the 30-year-old. Garcia, sporting a natty lemon outfit, lived up to his choice of colors for much of the round before eagling the 16th hole when the pressure had gone.

Likewise Furyk, who many expected would push Tiger all the way, bogeyed three of the first eight holes and only played to form once the cameras were turned the other way. Cabrera, looking to make it two Argentinian wins at Hoylake (Roberto De Vicenzo won the last Open there in 1967), double-bogeyed the second and later bogeyed the 12th and 13th, and Els, who will be encouraged by his best showing at a major since knee surgery last year, made crucial mistakes at the eighth and 11th holes just when a birdie or two would have put a significant amount of wind up the leader.Woods, on the other hand, birdied the 14th, 15th, and 16th at the same time as the one player who was making some noise, Di-Marco, was rattling in putts from the four corners.

Phil Mickelson’s disappointing tie for 22nd denied us the chance of seeing the two players who are distancing themselves from the pack slugging it out for a major, but it will surely happen soon. How long until the PGA?