Augusta plants new doubt in Tiger's mind

On this season's US PGA Tour Woods has hit 174 of a possible 284 fairways. That strike rate of 61.3 per cent leaves him a humiliating 104th in the accuracy rankings.

Compare that with Woods's signature campaign in 2000. That's when he won the final three majors of the summer to set-up the 'Tiger Slam' - a full hand of all four major titles - which he clinched at the Masters in the spring of 2001.

By the end of millennium year Woods was 54th in driving accuracy, not bad considering the tremendous length he hit the ball. But his remarkable ability with an iron or a putter in his hands saw him top the scoring average table with a 'card' of 67.79.

Now, partly as a result of finishing 16th in the Players Championship on Sunday, that scoring average has soared to 70.23.

Of course, compared to the majority of his rivals, Woods can be reasonably content. Already this season he has won one of golf 's most lucrative tournaments, the Accenture Match Play Championship, and that success has helped him bank more than £1million in prize money from just six starts.

But Woods is struggling when he is measured against the imposing standards he has set for himself.

Next week, in and around Augusta's historic clubhouse, his apparent plight will be subject to whispered debate and argument.

Some fingers will point in the direction of Elin Nordegren, the stunning Swedish blonde who will be easy to spot mingling with the galleries despite donning dark glasses and a Nike baseball cap.

It was Woods's own father, Earl, who once declared: "A wife can sometimes be a deterrent to a good golf game. The level Tiger is at, the finite little problems like that would destroy him."

Earl likes to wallow in a little history so he should know that Jack Nicklaus was 20 when he married Barbara Bash, and that the Golden Bear was a parent before he won the first of the record 18 majors, which Woods Jnr regards as his own career target.

Perhaps a more plausible explanation for Woods's waywardness is the story, heard in the locker room, that he is carrying another injury.

Knee surgery at the start of 2003, and the resulting inability to commit to his usual intensive practice regime, held Woods in check last year. Now look carefully at replays of last week's Players Championship and it is possible to see Woods wincing from what appears to be a severe thigh muscle strain.

However, many observers contend that Woods's swing is the root cause of his current strife. And Johnny Miller, the former major winner who has become an expert analyst for American television, has done more observing than most.

Comparing Woods in 2000, when he was coached by swing guru Butch Harmon, to Woods in 2004, when Harmon's services have been deemed superfluous, Miller claims to have detected at least four differences in his swing.

Miller believes the partnership with Harmon should be revived, urgently, and Harmon himself says he is only a phone call away.

But maybe this is where we come to the crunch. Having allowed himself to be guided through his early career by a retinue of advisors, Woods has become very much his own man. He plots his own course and makes his own decisions. One of them is that he no longer needs help on the driving range.

Next week, if you can't see Woods for the trees, you'll know that particular decision was the wrong one.