Thousand Oaks, Calif. ? Tiger Woods had an exciting week at the Target World Challenge, and not just because he nearly staged a great comeback before finishing second to Padraig Harrington.

Woods was the victim of a theft at his own tournament.

Two men got into the locker room at Sherwood Country Club during the pro-am dinner Wednesday and walked away with several pieces of equipment :quot; including three wedges belonging to Woods.

The clubs were recovered by the weekend.

Even more unusual than the heist was how it was nearly foiled in the first place.

Turns out the suspects panicked when they heard voices in the locker room Wednesday evening, so they set down the wedges and began playing pool.

They were joined at the table by PGA champion Rich Beem.

“I was playing pool with these guys and there were these wedges sitting in the corner, all of them with Rifle shafts,” Beem said. “I was thinking, ‘That’s a really nice pro-am prize.'”

At one point, Beem said he picked up a wedge to inspect it.

“If I had any inclination to flip it around, I would have seen ‘TW’ stamped in the top,” he said. “I might have really spoiled someone’s gig.”

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White Christmas: Woods plans to spend part of the holidays in Sweden at the home of his girlfriend, Elin Nordegren, in a small town north of Stockholm.

“I’ve never seen snow fall in my life,” said Woods, who grew up in California and now lives most of the year in Florida.

The only time he has seen snow was a few years ago when he and Mark O’Meara went fishing in the spring near Park City, Utah. There was still snow on the ground, even though Woods said it was in the 60s that day.

One other tiny problem is that the warmest clothing Woods owns is a leather jacket.

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Getting a real job: Anyone who thinks Annika Sorenstam isn’t serious about a second career as a chef should make reservations at the Lake Nona Golf Club restaurant. Chances are, Sorenstam will be involved preparing the meal.

The best female golfer in the world has taken a job in the kitchen at Lake Nona, working eight-hour shifts a couple of days a week.

After winning 13 times around the world, the most by anyone in nearly 40 years, Sorenstam said she was looking into culinary schools. Lake Nona is just a start. Among her duties so far are chopping tomatoes and cucumbers, along with learning the ropes, if not the pot holders.

“Cooking to her is like scuba diving for Tiger,” said Mark Steinberg at IMG, the agent for Sorenstam and Tiger Woods.

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Final word: “It’s terrible. I’m not even the top sportsman in my family.” :quot; Padraig Harrington, whose second cousin is Detroit Lions quarterback Joey Harrington.