Woods in error making his return in U.S. Open

MAMARONECK, N.Y. – The only ones who didn’t see this implosion coming were the intimates on Team Tiger.

Their primary function in what’s now become a half-billion dollar enterprise are serving as the house sycophants, providing Tiger Woods with only the information he wants to hear.

And the penalty for that was Woods’ first missed cut at a major since turning pro 10 years ago. He finished 12-over par, shooting 76-76–152 in the first two rounds of the U.S. Open.

He won’t admit he grossly erred strategically, but it was competitive suicide making the tricky winds and winding contours of Winged Foot his first tournament in nine weeks following the death of his father, Earl.

His decision to compete proves he buys into the mythology that he’s some form of golfing cyborg, impervious to the imperfections of the merely mortal.

But Woods was never more human as a golfer than he was the past two days.

Who hasn’t looked clueless on the golf course at one time or another?

He wasn’t happy after signing another 6-over-par scorecard.

A sentiment shared by NBC, which surely prayed nightly for the golfing gods to steer Woods into championship contention on Father’s Day so they could tap into the mother lode of melodrama.

It’s also shared by the thousands who had tickets to the weekend rounds at Winged Foot with the hope of catching a distant glimpse of the iconic celebrity from behind the ropes. But when they arrive for today’s third round, Woods will be sailing the Atlantic back to his Florida compound on the six-bedroom, 155-foot yacht that was his private sanctuary during his brief stay here.

The only red numbers connected to his game were the total of veins ready to pop in his head. Woods should have been ticked off, but he has only himself to blame for his performance, because he should have known better.

He’s a child of Earth, not Krypton.

But when a reporter asked Woods if he should have played an earlier tournament before attempting to return at Winged Foot, Woods cut him off and defiantly stood by his decision, saying, “I wasn’t ready to play golf” any sooner.

But he clearly wasn’t ready to play now, either.

“It’s playing hard, really hard,” Woods said of the course layout. “The golf course is really difficult. Marginal shots are just going to get killed here. It’s the nature of this golf course. That’s true of any U.S. Open, but more so on this golf course than any other U.S. Open venue.”

But if his mind was understandably elsewhere, someone among his entourage should have stepped in and smacked some sense into him, rather than continue to try and reinforce the superhuman folklore.

They must have rationalized that if anyone could execute the impossible under these conditions, it was Woods.

But Woods not only lost a father, he also lost his most trusted adviser. Somebody must attempt to fill at least a fraction of that void.

“I just didn’t execute properly,” he said. “It wasn’t rust. Unfortunately, I didn’t put it together at the right time.”

Instead, everything just fell apart. His tee shots bounced off makeshift hospitality tents, nowhere close to the fairway. His normally reliable irons were strangers and he never adapted to greens speeds that were much slower than normal for a U.S. Open.

“I think it might be hard for most of us to come back from that kind of a layoff and jump right into this championship under these tough conditions,” said defending champion Michael Campbell, who played in Woods’ group. “But he knows his game better than anybody else so I’m sure he thought he could handle the situation.”

Woods will merit a free pass from many for this. He remains in a state of bereavement after the passing of Earl two months ago and anyone who has lost a parent knows there is no prescribed timetable for grief. You just get through it the best way you can.

But it makes the voices of those closest to you that much more important during that period. It was obvious that the best business decision (and, yes, his pursuit of Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major championships has become a cottage industry) was playing earlier so he could honestly assess his game before the wickedness of Winged Foot.

Ego embarrassed him, but there’s a lesson if Woods is willing to listen.

His nemesis, Phil Mickelson, has positioned himself for a better-than-decent shot this weekend at winning a third straight major championship. If he does, he becomes the vibrant pulse of a sport craving a legitimate rivalry between equal powers.

It’s the next challenge that Woods needs for elevation to a higher level, but he has to learn that even his brilliance with a golf club has limits.