Tiger's tale like a sad, sad song

"Where do the songs

come from?"

"Life, unfortunately." — Bad Blake

Perhaps Tiger Woods winced if he heard that line in the movie "Crazy Heart." Maybe he saw a bit of himself in it. Where do the golf slumps come from? Life, unfortunately.

It's always something. It was a car wreck for Ben Hogan. It was booze for John Daley. It was the yips for Tom Watson and Johnny Miller. It was back injuries for Seve Ballesteros. It was age for Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.

It was women and a gimpy knee for Tiger, which sounds like the start of a country song. Blake could write about all the reasons golf careers have tanked, and Tiger's might be one of the saddest of them all.

Tiger is looking more mortal every day, on and off the golf course. His much-publicized philandering, the bum knee, the tinkering with his game — they have all taken their toll, and now he is middle-aged, which presents its own challenges. You have to wonder if his career will achieve all that it was seemingly destined to be.

The measure of his career will be Grand Slam victories. There was a time when Tiger was considered a cinch to surpass Nicklaus' record of 18 Slam wins.

He won his first major — the 1997 Masters — at 21. Three years later, he became the youngest player to claim a career Grand Slam (wins in all four majors).

By age 26, he had won eight majors.

By 30, he had already won a dozen majors — four more than Nicklaus at the same age.

By the age of 32, he had won 14.

Then began the current drought. Now 34-years old, Tiger hasn't won a major since winning the 2008 U.S. Open.

He is no longer the dominant player he once was, although only in Tiger's World could finishes of sixth (twice), fourth (twice) and second in the last seven majors be considered a slump. How bad are things? He changed putters in last week's British Open — twice — which calls to mind the title of Lance Armstrong's book: "It's Not About the Bike."

It's not about the club.