Tiger Woods: Why Masters 2012 Proves Best of Career Is Behind Him

Tiger Woods entered the 2012 Masters as the odds-on favorite to walk out wearing the green jacket. His tournament ended before network television even began on Sunday, just the latest demonstration that his best days are well behind him.

2012 was supposed to be Woods' reemergence as a golf legend. His personal issues were supposedly behind him, his swing was reportedly back and he has always had command of his putter. 

All three of those failed him at the Masters, though, leaving him tied for 40th place at plus-five...15 strokes off the lead. He failed to break par in any of his four rounds, posting his worst performance since failing to make the cut in 1996. 

Concerns with his putting began in February at Pebble Beach and the Match Play Championship. Not only was he failing to sink any of his signature 40-foot putts, he was missing five-foot attempts at crucial moments.

"I could not get comfortable where I could see my lines. I couldn't get the putter to swing," Woods said. "I should be able to fix it in a day."

Like many of his putt attempts, his effort fell short.

Woods did limit his putting to just 114 strokes, which isn't a bad number. But, combined with two three-putts, it just isn't Tiger Woods-worthy. 

The telltale sign that Tiger just isn't Tiger came with the Par-5 holes, as Tiger explained in his recap of his play at Augusta.

"

I didn't hit the ball very good this week, and what's frustrating is I know what to do, and I just don't do it. I get out there and I just don't trust it at all. I fall back into the same old patterns again, and I just need to do more reps. Thank God my short game was good this week and my putting was really good. Unfortunately they were all for pars, not for birdies.

If I look back on the week, I played the par 5s atrociously. This is a golf course you just have to dominate the par 5s, and I did not do that at all this week.

"

Oh, Tiger...you are just too kind.

On the 16 holes where Woods generally makes his moves, he managed just two birdies. For comparison, he had played 66 rounds at Augusta in his career and was -84 on holes 13 and 15. He managed to post par on all eight attempts in 2012.

Woods has clearly lost his game, and each major he seems to be missing in a different aspect. At 36 years old, it isn't likely that is going to change significantly. The issue is clearly mental, an aspect of his game that failed him when the new of his infidelity robbed him of his family, public image and more than $25 million in endorsement deals.

The once-assumed assault on Jack Nicklaus' majors record is now almost unattainable.