Deutsche Bank Championship 2012: Tiger Woods Must End Weekend Woes, Win at TPC

For Tiger Woods' 2012 PGA Tour season, his seven-under first-round triumph on Friday at the Deutsche Bank Championship is (forgive the pun) par for the course. 

It seems that nearly every major championship Woods has entered on Tour this season, he starts out with promising weekday rounds, tantalizing the public and causing a flowing stream of "Tiger's Back" stories, only to falter where he once shined: the weekend. 

This trend started with the U.S. Open. Tied for the lead through 36 holes, Woods collapsed in the final two rounds at the Lake Course in San Francisco. His weekend scores of 75 on Saturday and 73 on Sunday took the 36-year-old from the lead to a tie for 20th place by the tournament's conclusion.

Though not as bad, the same can be said for his British Open Championship, where a score of 73 on Sunday allowed Ernie Els to come from behind to win at Royal Lytham.

Three weeks ago at the PGA Championship, Woods once again descended from a tie for the lead through two rounds to out of the top 10 with late-round failures.

Now four years without a major championship, Woods only has his own struggles in the clutch to blame. 

Nevertheless, Woods was still great enough during the 2012 season to come into the FedEx Cup playoffs in first place and the overwhelming favorite to become the first three-time champion.

Without the only thing Woods truly cares about on his trophy case this season, the Cup could at least provide some solace for the world's former greatest golfer. 

One problem: Woods again tanked down the stretch in last week's opening tournament, the Barclays, shooting a season-worst score of 76 to fall from a tie for 10th place the whole way to a tie for 38th. 

So let's just say Woods' seven-under on Friday, while brilliant, comes with a cavalcade of skepticism. 

For Tiger to ever become Tiger again, he needs to build on his opening-round triumph at the Deutsche Bank and come away victorious. Not to serve as a momentary glimpse, a tease of greatness before the inevitable pulling of the rug.

Woods has won at the TPC Boston before. It's a yearly stop on tour, a course he's played plenty of times and should be comfortable on. The two golfers ahead of him after the first round, Seung-yul Noh and Chris Kirk, are guys that only the most strident tour fan could pick out in a lineup.

It's almost guaranteed that Woods will never become the dominant force we all hope. Age and injury are two impenetrable factors that no athlete can overcome.

Nevertheless, for Woods to even be relevant on the weekend at a big tournament again, he needs to win this weekend at the Deutsche Bank and use that victory as a catalyst to take home the FedEx Cup.

The time to stop disappointing is now.