Masters 2012: Tiger Woods' Response to Poor Augusta Showing Will Define Season

He was supposed to be back. He was supposed to be primed for a return to dominance. He was supposed to compete for a fifth green jacket.

His weekend was supposed to turn into his year, which was going to catapult him back on track to secure his legacy as the best ever in his sport.

Instead, Tiger Woods just plain-old stunk at the Masters; how he deals with that fact and recovers moving forward will determine how he plays the rest of the year.

The fall from grace for Woods was fast when the scandal broke in 2009. Sponsorship deals were rescinded, fans denounced him in droves and his game on the course seemed to ditch him as well.

Trying to find the dominance that once was synonymous with his name has been daunting, a veritable mountain he has camped at the base of for two years, unable to scale the obstacle.

But finally, at the Masters, it seemed the summit was in reach. A tournament prior, he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He was ready to dominate again. America was ready for him to dominate as well.

He promptly shot five-over par for the tournament and was never a contender.

So how will he respond? Will he hit the practice courses even harder? Will he trust himself and let loose? Will he regain the edge that made him the most feared golfer every Sunday at the majors?

Or will he kick his clubs? Will he doubt himself? Will we have to start calling him Paper Tiger?

This has to be in Tiger's head at this point. The talent is there; he knows how to golf. But he must have a case of serious self-doubt, a vulnerability he isn't used to, that is throwing everything out of whack here.

How he gets that glare of intensity back, the fist pump after a big putt—well, I don't know. He seems to have dampened the fire that made him so great. Maybe the scandal did that.

I know this much: If he laments and dwells on his Masters performance rather than using it to get better, he'll simply replicate this poor showing. "Lost in the Woods," the newspapers will write on their headlines.

And that's what his season will be—lost in the woods.

People want Tiger back. Golf was always more fun with the superstar cache he brought to the table. Watching him track down an opponent on Sundays was amazing, like watching Michael Jordan score at will, or watching Wayne Gretzky dip and dart around the ice.

We won't ever get that again unless Tiger gets his head right...unless he figures out how to play like he used to play...unless the Masters doesn't haunt him.

The old Tiger would have shrugged, made his adjustments and dominated the next time out. We'll see if this version is able to do the same.

Hit me up on Twitter—my tweets are growing a playoff beard.