Tiger Woods crashes out of match play in second round

It was a putt we've seen Tiger Woods convert a thousands times in his career: a critical six-footer for birdie that, for all intents and purposes, looked like a sure thing. With a chance to extend the match against Nick Watney, Woods addressed the putt, released the putter head ... and watched the ball slide by the hole.

It was the kind of miss that would have shocked us years ago and been plastered across on national websites around the country, but considering the way Woods has played for the last two-plus years (with the exception of his win at the Chevron), the miss was predictable.

For the second day in a row, Woods' game resembled a roller coaster, as he put together a couple of good holes only to watch the positive vibes go away with an errant drive or poor chip. It was a round that summed up the way things have gone for Woods perfectly over the last couple of months.

The funny thing is, it wasn't like Nick Watney was playing lights-out; he too was struggling to get around the Dove Mountain course. But instead of capitalizing on Watney's poor play, Tiger seemed content to just hang in there, never making a move and always relying on his opponent to make a mistake. And when the opportunity finally presented itself in the form of a perfectly-placed 9-iron on the 18th hole, Woods couldn't convert.

We've seen some bright spots in Woods' game over the last couple over years as he and instructor Sean Foley completely reworked his swing. His golf game showed signs of life at the Australian Masters and in Abu Dhabi; and he put together three solid rounds at Pebble Beach before the Sunday collapse.

For the most part, the positives have outweighed the negatives recently, but at this point in Woods' career, just playing mediocre golf isn't enough to win. There was a point in time when it was good enough to beat the rest of the field on most days -- but those days have sadly passed Woods by.

He's human now, and no matter how much some people want to believe that's going to change at some point in the near future, his game says otherwise.