Even when he is recovering from surgery and out of action Tiger Woods still manages to close in on records and phenomenal achievements.
On Monday week Woods will reach 500 weeks as world number one, a milestone which for a 32-year-old is as stunning as any shot he has ever played.
Jose Mourinho might be the self-styled "Special One" and Muhammad Ali will always be "The Greatest", but if Woods has not quite done enough yet to convince you he is the finest sportsman ever he has plenty of time yet to do so.
That tenure of top spot is already the best part of a decade and since his current lead over Phil Mickelson remains bigger than the gap between Mickelson and world number 352 Leif Westerberg it is perfectly plausible that we are only halfway through the Tiger Era.
Woods first reached number one in June 1997, a mere nine months into his professional career and just two months after that unforgettable 18 under par, 12-stroke triumph in The Masters, the first major he played in after leaving the amateur ranks.
That first reign was for seven days only. Ernie Els replaced him after winning his second US Open title, the one at Congressional where Colin Montgomerie bogeyed the penultimate hole and had the "Mrs Doubtfire" taunt thrown at him by an American heckler.
Then Greg Norman grabbed back the position a week later.
Then Woods was back there a week after that. Yes, the battle for supremacy back then was a story at every tournament they played.
The second reign was for nine weeks. Back came Norman, 42 years old at the time and striving to be remembered (certainly in the States) for far more than major misery, most notably that nightmare last-day collapse to Nick Faldo in the 1996 Masters.
The Australian had an 18-week run at number one through to January 1998, taking the total for his career to 331 weeks - at that stage 234 more than anybody else had accomplished since the rankings were first introduced in 1986.
But although that was to be the last time Norman held the position Woods still did not have things all his own way for some time yet, even if he had become by far the sport's most dominant and influential character.
In the first half of 1998 Els twice more snatched top spot away from him, on each occasion for four-week spells, then the following year David Duval - remember him? - reached the pinnacle of the sport with a sensational start to the season.
Duval won four times on the US Tour before The Masters in April, a run which included his Tour record-equalling closing 59 in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.
Where is he now? Well, after quitting the sport for a while he is back playing a limited schedule, but has not made a halfway cut since last September and is close to falling out of the world's top 1,000.
Duval held the crown for 15 weeks in all, but then Woods' second major title at the 1999 US PGA - the one where he held off 19-year-old Sergio Garcia - began an uninterrupted five-year stay at number one.
It was always going to take a Herculean effort to relegate him to number two again, but Vijay Singh, the living embodiment of what rewards hard work can bring, finally managed it.
Singh won eight times on the US Tour in 2004 against Woods' one and for 32 weeks over three spells he was top dog. Given that he was 42 when the last of those spells came to an end, though, it was no surprise that he began slipping back rather than challenging again.
And so we are where we are. An unrivalled number one, Mickelson the clear number two and rest just striving to get as high as they can, with only the younger generation appearing to have a genuine chance of one day displacing Woods.
A day, it has to be said, that looks a long, long way off.
Television commentator Ken Brown said: "Little advantages in a number of aspects of the game adds up to a big advantage and that's what Woods has.
"If you were going to pick something out you would have to say it's his ability to hole those putts from eight feet and in when he really needs it.
"And if you keep winning all the time you've got a psychological advantage too.
"He's done it from such a young age that winning is just part of him, just a habit.
"There's every chance we're only halfway through what he is going to do in the game.
"He's on a journey and I can't see a reason why he might not double what he's done already."
League table of world number ones since ranking system was introduced in 1986 (figures expressed in weeks):
498 Tiger Woods
331 Greg Norman
97
Nick Faldo
61
Seve Ballesteros
50
Ian Woosnam
44
Nick Price
32
Vijay Singh
16
Fred Couples
15
David Duval
9
Ernie Els
3
Bernhard Langer
1
Tom Lehman
Woods career summary:
Played 273 Wins 86, 2nds 37, 3rds 22, top 10s 199
Major wins 13
Tournament earnings Ј49.9million
McBride: We’re Not Out Of Woods Yet
Inter won’t make major changes
WOODS OPTS FOR OPEN RETURN
WOODS GOES UNDER KNIFE
