Tiger Woods Doesn't Need Pebble Beach Victory to Prove Impending Dominance

Even though Tiger Woods is five shots off the pace after Round 1 of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, there's no reason to be concerned about his game. He's still showing off enough improvement to believe a big year is in store for the former No. 1.

It's also important to note the tournament is a bit funky.

Golfers are playing at three different courses alongside a celebrity partner, which is a completely different atmosphere than most tournaments Woods will play this season.

Hitting the links with Tony Romo leads to a different mindset than playing with Dustin Johnson or Luke Donald. It's something Woods understood before signing on to play the event, but it didn't bother him since he doesn't need a victory this weekend.

He just wants to keep making progress.

Every aspect of his game has shown a complete transformation from his extended slump after personal issues derailed his career for awhile. From play off the tee to putting, a round hasn't gone by where he didn't have one facet in elite form.

Yesterday's round was a perfect example.

While he was driving the ball well and his putting was good enough to post a low number, his short game was slightly off. And in the game of golf, slightly off equates to a couple shots.

The key moving forward will be putting all of his recent improvements together to become a dominant force again by the time majors begin.

After all, that's what really matters to Woods nowadays. He's still four major titles behind Jack Nicklaus and breaking that record would mean everything to him. So, peaking at the right time will be vital.

Every other event is nothing more than a tuneup.

Woods would like to win every tournament he enters because he's such a fiery competitor, but he knows the big picture is a lot more important. If he can emerge from Pebble Beach on Sunday with health and confidence, that's a triumph in its own right.

He has looked a lot more like vintage Tiger in recent months—he offers the occasional smile instead of acting like a robot—which means he's pleased with his game. And when Woods is content, it means victories are on the horizon.

It's going to be a memorable year for Woods as he proves his reign atop the game is far from over.

He doesn't need a Pro-Am trophy to illustrate that.