Window is closing for Woods

AS phenomena go, the weather curiosity known as the Marine Layer — a thick blanket of fog that hovers over the Bay Area of San Francisco – is mostly a nuisance.

It merely hinders your comfort level, more than it leaves you screaming in bewilderment.

But that other phenomenon that took centre stage in round three of the US Open Saturday? You are left shaking your head and wanting to scream: when will we recognise that there’s a shelf life to the wonders of the world, if only people would learn to let go.

We’re talking about the drama that is Tiger Woods.

Always the dominant story, Woods rode into this year’s US Open on the strength of an impressive win at the Memorial Tournament, one that came complete with some trademark magic — an improbable pitch-in from thick rough long and right of the 16th hole.

Understandable that he’d be considered the favourite, given his pedigree, given his savvy, given his form. And on the strength of a tidy, course-management commitment, Woods began the third round at one under, tied for the lead with Jim Furyk and David Toms.

He is unquestionably the greatest player of his generation, arguably in the game’s history, and his brilliance within the confines a major championship arena cannot be disputed. But irregardless of how Woods fared in Sunday’s final round, a day where he started joint 14th and four strokes back, it remains a wonderment as to how people embrace the notion that he is what he once was — a phenomenon.

He is not.

That is not to say Woods was not capable of doing something he has never done before — which is storm from off the 54-hole lead to win a major. When you’ve done things no one else in your sport has done, you are owed far more respect than that. But it is curious how so much of the Woods picture does not get property translated these days.

Having long subscribed to a theory that each and every great athlete has a window of prime opportunity opened to him, I believe golf offers a few shining examples. Arnold Palmer, for instance, was truly dominant from 1958 to 1964, a stretch during which he won seven of the 25 major championships in which he played.

Ben Hogan is perhaps the most remarkable of all, his 1946-53 stretch comprising of just 18 major chances because of a horrific car accident and being an era in which trips to the Open Championship weren’t part of the landscape. Yet of those 18 chances, Hogan won nine.

Jack Nicklaus is the poster boy of durability and consistency, because from the 1962 US Open to the 1975 PGA — a period of 14 years and 55 major chances — he won 14 times. The fact that he sprinkled in four more major triumphs from 1978-1986 is icing on the cake; his true window was 1962-1975.

Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Gary Player, Greg Norman, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo. Icons each and every one, but their windows were never opened for the length of time on par with the others. One might have surmised that after Nicklaus we wouldn’t see such splendour, yet what arrived in the person of Woods was something truly special.

So polarising is Woods’ personality that many people have trouble separating the person from the performer. But his numbers are the product of an athletic genius — that stretch of play from his win at the 1999 PGA Championship to the 2008 US Open including 35 majors, of which he won 14.

But he no longer is that sort of talent. That is not an indictment of his lifestyle. It is not proof that his new swing is inferior. It is not meant to condemn anything about him. It is merely a belief that the window of prime opportunity doesn’t stay open forever, that it has an expiration code, even for the greatest of the greats.

Woods has not won a Masters since 2005, and he has missed twice as many major championships (four) due to injury than he has won (two) since 2007. Judge him, if you feel it’s part of your life’s duty, but surely you have to concede that Woods has been tremendous for the game and he’s improved the product by miles.

When he’s in the mix, as he was at this 112th US Open, the game is better and more popular. And while his will to win is perhaps as strong as ever and certainly a major win or two isn’t unconceivable, the guess is Woods has met his match.

It’s called life. It changes for all.