DORAL, Fla. — Tiger Woods kept his head down as the rain fell harder and never broke stride as he followed a series of winding stairs and back doors, each step taking him farther from the Blue Monster. A security guard politely asked for an autograph, and Woods reached for a pen and forced a smile.

A tough day at the office.

He shot 67 and was two shots off the lead yesterday at the CA Championship.

Woods hasn’t lost a tournament since September, a streak that includes six official victories around the world, the last title coming four days ago with a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole at Bay Hill.

Apparently, he’s working on another streak — the endless pursuit of perfection.

Woods was poised to catch Geoff Ogilvy and Miguel Angel Jimenez, each of whom opened at 7-under 65, until he missed a 7-foot birdie putt on the 16th and three-putted the 18th hole from 70 feet, missing the last one from 5 feet.

Someone asked if the three-putt bothered him.

“Yeah, I’m (ticked),” Woods said with a cold glare. “You three-putt 18, you’re not going to be happy.” Strange, because it was Ogilvy who referred to the Blue Monster at Doral as a “happy place,” for Woods, and that’s ordinarily the case. He has won here the last two years, and won this World Golf Championship six times in eight years.

For most, it was a shift in the wind that brought joy.

After practice rounds in ferocious wind, so severe that Ogilvy didn’t even bother playing on Wednesday, it made a slow shift to favorable conditions, allowing for all but two dozen players in the 79-man field to break par.

Ogilvy got off to a strong start in one respect. He’s ahead of Woods.

The former U.S. Open champion is savvy enough to know that golf is about beating the course better than anyone else, but these times call for slight adjustments. Woods has become the most dominant player this side of World War II. “You know starting the week if you want to win the tournament, you’re going to have to beat him because you know he’s going to be in contention come the last nine holes here on Sunday,” Ogilvy said. “It’s just one of his happy places, obviously. If I can just be one in front after every round, that will be pretty good.”