Eye on Performance.

If Saturday's 27-0 domination of the St. Louis Rams is the last time Hines Ward suits up for the Steelers in Heinz Field, he will go out on top -- of the Steelers' record books.

The 35-year-old Steelers receiver is the franchise's all-time leader in yards, receptions, and receiving touchdowns. He is only five catches away from 1,000. If Ward makes it, he will become just the third player in NFL history with 1,000 catches and multiple Super Bowl wins. Jerry Rice and Art Monk are the others. Nice company.

If he can get those five catches Sunday in the season finale at Cleveland, Ward might guarantee his enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That has been the big buzz for everyone in Pittsburgh -- there was a sign in the south end zone Saturday that counted down with each catch -- except Ward.

"All we gotta do is keep controlling what we can control," he said.

Though he only caught four passes against the Rams, Ward still played a crucial role in the Steelers' win as his receptions kept drives alive. He hasn't been the go-to guy much this season, especially in recent weeks when he's seen a drastic reduction in playing time.

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Hines Ward, NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers

Athletes are supposed to rise to the challenge when competing against the best, but in one sport they melt like ice under the desert sky. The name Tiger Woods alone was enough to hurt the performance of PGA Tour competition over the last decade, according to a new study.

Northwestern University studied PGA scores from 1999 to 2010 and discovered that when Woods merely entered a tournament, other players shot nearly a full stroke higher than when he didn't participate.

And this wasn't because of golfers gambling to compete against Tiger by attempting riskier shots to stay in contention. Northwestern economist Jennifer Brown says if that were the case, researchers would expect to see players hit more eagles and more double bogeys when playing against Woods, reflecting a high-risk, high-reward strategy. But that didn't happen. There were significantly fewer eagles and double bogeys when Woods played.

Tiger Woods used his personal power to cash in on PGA Tour earnings. Northwestern's research indicates Tiger's earnings would have fallen 11.1 percent from $54.5 million to $48.4 million between 1999 and 2006 had the other PGA stars not struggled with him on the course.

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In other words, the study claims Woods picked up nearly $6 million in extra winnings that otherwise could have gone to other players on the field.

If only this worked in other sports: LeBron James would have a few rings for Cleveland and Peyton Manning would have more than one Super Bowl trophy.

What's the old Woody Allen saying? Ninety percent of life is just showing up?

Shots like this held build the superstar status of Tiger.