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How the mighty Tiger has fallen

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Tiger Woods. Photo: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
Tiger Woods. Photo: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

What was once a glittering golf career is fast turning to dust for Tiger Woods, whose steady decline in form has fans and peers questioning whether he still has the talent and skill to make it on the fairways.

Things have not been rosy over the past eight years for the world’s former top golfer.

This continuing dip in form is now being witnessed in almost every tournament – big and small – in which Woods has recently participated.

Woods stamped his authority on the international golfing scene by winning 14 majors – and looked ready to meet and even beat Jack Nicklaus’ enviable record of 18 wins.

But now, however, it’s fairly certain that Woods will not realise such a feat.

The latest twist in his downward spiral occurred last Friday when Woods missed the cut for the US Open at Chambers Bay Golf Club, University Place, Washington.

He shot a disastrous 80 and 76, and fell out by 11 strokes to finish with a two-day total of 156, 16 over par.

This was the first time since 2006 that Woods has failed to better the required score in this contest.

Woods, who turns 40 in December, enjoyed admirable success from 1997 to 2008, during which he secured all the big titles that international golf has to offer.

His last notable victory was at the 2008 US Open.

Prior to that, he revelled in the glory of being the world’s top player for five years from 1999 to 2004.

However, cracks started to show in 2009.

His game started to suffer soon after reports of infidelity surfaced.

It was at this stage that many sponsors announced that they were parting ways with Woods.

Woods decided to take a break from golf to focus on his marriage – but it obviously didn’t work as he was soon divorced from Elin Nordegren.

However, his game continued to decline, with little sign of improvement. In 2011, the one-time sports icon slipped to 58th in the world rankings.

Woods’ professional career continued to take strain and last year he underwent back surgery.

Although confident of his return to golf after surgery, Woods has struggled to return to strong form on the fairways.

His poor form has seen him slip to an embarrassing 205th place in the world ratings this week.

The sad reality is that the Tiger Woods of today is likely very far from the professional career envisaged when he was named the PGA Tour’s rookie of the year in 1996 just after turning professional at the age of 20.

He was also one of the highest-paid athletes in the world for several years

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