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Tiger Woods has arrived at Hazeltine to begin final preparations for the 91st US PGA Championship, coming off an impressive 70th career triumph and hungry for a 15th Major title.

Woods, chasing the all-time record 18 majors won by Jack Nicklaus, captured the milestone title at the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational in a Sunday duel with reigning US PGA Championship winner Padraig Harrington.

World number one Woods moved just three shy of Nicklaus's all-time victory total and only 12 off Sam Snead's career record with his 13th title in 23 starts and fifth of the year, including all his final tune-ups for Majors.

"It helps you get into the mode of playing this type of golf," Woods said of playing against top rivals the week before a Major.

Woods also won the Buick Open the week before and will play three weeks in a row for the 21st time, but the first with a major at the end of that span.

Woods seeks his fifth US PGA Championship crown, which would match the record shared by Nicklaus and 1920s star Walter Hagen.

If he does not win this week, this will be the first year since 2004 that Woods has not claimed a major title. But after back-to-back titles since missing the cut at the Open, Woods is making no changes to his routine.

"I'm just going to keep working on things I'm working on. I think they are doing all right," Woods said.

"I'm going to do my normal routine, play Monday and Tuesday then do nothing on Wednesday, just practice. Wednesday will be my rest day. Get to know the golf course a little bit on Monday and Tuesday then shut it down."

Irishman Harrington will be paired with Woods again Thursday morning and Friday afternoon and joining them will be Rich Beem, who has not won since edging Woods by a stroke for the 2002 US PGA Championship at Hazeltine.

"Being here brings back wonderful memories. It's nothing but great for my psyche," Beem said. "I can't wait to play."

Woods has won 41 titles since he birdied the last four holes at Hazeltine but came up one stroke short against Beem and settled for his first runner-up showing at a major.

A late-round disaster cost Harrington last week, but the effort he made for most of the event gave him confidence that the stroke-change woes which have kept him winless for a year are nearly over.

"Most things I did were pretty positive," Harrington said. "I certainly did a lot of things you need to do right when you want to play good tournaments. My short game was sharp. Definitely see a bit of a weakness in my wedge play. That needs a bit of improvement. The long game was sufficient anyway."

World number two Phil Mickelson returned last week after taking more than a month off helping his wife and mother cope with breast cancer treatment while world number three Paul Casey of England is battling a rib injury.

They take the stage at a 7,674-yard, par-72 layout that features three par-5 holes longer than 600 yards and a total of 300 more yards than in 2002. Most players do not expect Hazeltine will play at its formidable maximum distances.

"Longer players certainly have one or two more chances per day to take advantage," Woods said. "I don't know if they are going to play it all the way back or not, but if they do, I don't think a lot of the guys can get to all the par-5s. They are going to be true three-shotters."

Mickelson would not mind the full test himself.

"It's a tough test because the course is so long," Mickelson said. "I don't anticipate it playing that long. I hope it does, but I don't think it will. It is going to be a great PGA that looks to be set up very fairly."

Harrington calls it "a big hitters course" and said accuracy off the tee will be vital.

"They are asking for good, solid play," he said. "I don't think it's tricky. If you hit the shots you will get rewarded."

Reuters