Beware a wounded Tiger

Woods began poorly in The Open and did not recover

When Tigers Woods clinched victory in the 65th US Masters at Augusta on 8 April he became the first golfer to hold all four Major titles simultaneously.

He achieved this record-breaking milestone at the age of 25 and some experts suggested that Woods' domination of the sport could damage the game as a whole.

Two Majors later and the American superstar suddenly seems mortal.

Woods shot a four-over par first-round 74 at this year's US Open at Southern Hills, Tulsa and followed that with a second-round 71.

Unbelievably he almost missed the cut, and began the final round needing to overturn a nine-shot deficit to reclaim his title.

Woods took a week off after The Open

Try as he might, Woods made no impression on the leaders and finished the tournament three-over par, seven shots adrift of winner Retief Goosen.

The Open at Royal Lytham brought more disappointment.

Defending the title he won at St Andrews the previous year, Woods again began poorly and never really threatened.

He finished the tournament joint 25th and could only watch as great rival David Duval won his first Major, finishing nine shots clear of the former champion.

At the end of April Woods had all four Majors in his trophy cabinet, but now he holds just two.

And the USPGA is sure to present another stern challenge, with the likes of Goosen and Duval full of confidence and encouraged by Woods' fallibility.

Woods has not won a title since the start of June and has failed to finish higher than joint 12th since then.

Is it a case of Woods' demanding schedule starting to takes it toll?

Rejuvenated

Woods himself does not seem too concerned and is taking it all in his stride.

After The Open he said: "It's not life or death, there's no regrets. I tried as hard as I could."

He took a week off after Lytham to recharge his batteries and returned to form in the Lincoln Financial Group Battle of Bighorn.

Tiger Woods is aiming for a hat-trick of USPGA wins

Partnering the world's number one female golfer Annika Sorenstam in a made-for-television match, he beat David Duval and Karrie Webb.

And it is worth remembering that he remains the world number one, tops the US PGA scoring average, leads of the US Ryder Cup points list and heads the US PGA tour money list.

His tournament wins this year already include The Masters, the Players Championship, the Bay Hill Invitational and the Deutsche Bank SAP Open.

Woods won the USPGA in 1999 and 2000 and, if he makes a good start in this year's event, there is no reason to suggest the Tiger will not make it an unprecedented hat-trick of wins.