High time Tiger manned up to painful reality about his game Let-down: Tiger Woods acknowledges the crowd during his disappointing third round of the US Open at Merion Golf Club. Every time Tiger Woods doesn't win a major, and especially when he looks as old and battered as he has here at Merion Golf Club in the US Open, Jack Nicklaus could have a quiet little party, like some members of the '72 Miami Dolphins when the last undefeated NFL team gets beaten. Nicklaus is too classy to do it. At least in part, he would probably like to see Woods win a few more major crowns because it would be good for golf, good for Woods' psyche and because Bobby Jones was so gracious to Jack. Be a good guy: don't clutch your 18-major record with all 20 bear claws. But, for those of us assigned to analyse, it is time to be candid, not about Woods the person, about which too much is probably said, but about Woods the golfer, who is No.1 in the world again. View the entirety of the past five years since Woods won the US Open at Torrey Pines. Add up the injuries, the poor putting in majors, the dwindled mystique, the raw nerves and the lost chances on weekends when he was in the picture to win his 15th major title. Look at his 76 on Saturday. It just doesn't look like Tiger is going to make it. You couldn't imagine a great player in more complete denial than Woods after a miserable third round with a birdie at No.1, then seven bogeys. He's been in high rough all week and had a shaky short game , including missing three very short putts, one of them from two feet. He has basically stunk. You'd never know it from him. Does he think nobody walks the course or watches TV? After his round, Woods described his "perfect drive" at the tough fifth hole that "ended up in a ball mark. That turned my round around," he said. Woods' list of excuses after his 76 would put Sergio Garcia to shame. I really wasn't that far off. I couldn't get the speed right [on the greens]. I three-putted three times the first two days ... I didn't make anything today. I just couldn't get a feel for them. Some putts were fast, some were slow," said Woods, as if Merion's greens, not his putting, were somehow incomprehensible and thus at fault. It certainly is frustrating. At Augusta, I was pretty close then I hit the flag and went into the water ... Here, I'm playing well enough to do it and just haven't gotten it done. Can't help but wonder if he really believes any of that nonsense. If he's just jerking around questioners, that's his business. If he believes he's describing golf reality, he's got big-time "major-itis." Right now, the distance from Woods' 14 major titles to Nicklaus's 18 seems like a hundred miles. Will Woods win more majors? In his first two rounds, Woods reacted to shots out of rough as if a hot poker had been jabbed in his elbow. Woods' total description of his problem has been "pain." When did it happen? "At the Players [five weeks ago]," said Woods. So, he's played with pain for more than a month. Woods wasn't "close" here this week. A divot did not derail him. Before he can make the most of what's left of his great career he needs to look at these painful days honestly.