By Steve Silverman 
 
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 At a certain point, all of the stragglers are going to let it go — the hangers-on who still believe that Tiger Woods has a chance to regain at least some of his past glory and start playing excellent golf once again, winning a tournament here or there and maybe even another major. 
 
 But based on what happened in the first round Thursday at the U.S. Open and the third round of the Memorial Tournament earlier this month, those of us still holding onto Tiger confidence and Tiger hope are going to give it up in short order. 
 
 Tiger opened with an 80 in the first round at Chambers Bay, and the look on his face was a familiar one when he topped his 3-wood and saw it roll up the fairway and into the hazard. 
 
 The look was familiar because when I play with my buddies Bobbo, Junior (aka Muscles) and Ron, I often see that look on their faces when they hit a worm burner up the fairway. And they see that same expression on my face when I do it. 
 
 Bobbo is always the one with the quick remark. When I hit that shot, he looks me dead in the eye and he lets me know without any hesitation. 
 
 “You know, you are not very good at golf,” he says. “You’re actually quite lousy.” 
 
 No apologies and no “you’ll get ‘em next time.” He’s straight forward, and he was the first one to point out that Tiger was beaten by 15-year-old amateur Cole Hammer in the first round. The youngster finished three strokes better. 
 
 There is no getting around that Tiger is playing lousy golf. You may want to give him credit for sticking with it and “working through the process,” but for those of us who have been in the Tiger camp for years, this is just a brutal development that may be worse than any elite athlete has ever gone through. 
 
 Tiger was not one of the best golfers of his generation; he was the best. His peers came from previous eras in golf, as in Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan and Bobby Jones. Arnold Palmer may have had more charisma than any of the other three, but he was not as great or consistent. 
 
 Tiger had the charisma to match Palmer, and he seemed like he was as good or better as those other historic figures. 
 
 Nicklaus was among his biggest supporters, saying on several occasions that he believed Tiger would break his record of 18 majors. The Golden Bear will still come out with words of support, but it seems like he is just trying to be kind at this point. 
 
 Willie Mays is often in the photo when it comes to great athletes who lost it at the end. There’s that play in the 1973 World Series where as a member of the Mets, he lost a fly ball in the outfield in sunny Oakland. That clip is regularly shown to depict the ravages that hit aging athletes. That play and a sinking batting average doesn’t take anything away from the fact that Mays is almost certainly the greatest living ex-player, and perhaps the best or second-best player all-time behind Babe Ruth. 
 
 But Mays was 42 in 1973, and high expectations had long since evaporated. He would occasionally get a key hit or make a play, but his ability to play consistently had disappeared by the end of the 1971 season. 
 
 Tiger is 39 years old and he should still have good years left. Nicklaus won five tournaments, including three majors, after he turned 40. Palmer won six tournaments after that age, but none of them were majors. 
 
 Tiger has never been the same since Thanksgiving of 2008, when his sex scandal became known to the public – and his wife. 
 
 He has had numerous injuries as well, but it seems the pristine aura around his image cracked wide open when his social activities became front-page news. 
 
 There were those who reveled in his misery and those who had some level of empathy. But it seemed as though the greatest golfer in the world would find a way to get his game back. 
 
 While he had a great 2013 season with five tournament victories, he has not come close to winning a major. His career total of 14 majors remains stuck on hold, exactly where it has been for the last seven years. 
 
 Based on the way he has played since the end of the 2013 season – when it all started to go sideways for him – that total is not going to change. 
 
 I have always been in the camp that wanted to see Tiger do well again, because it makes golf a better game. But I have to agree with Bobbo at this point. 
 
 “Tiger, you stink.” 
 
 Follow Steve on Twitter at @ProFootballBoy ||||| Tiger Woods staggers to an opening 77 at PGA Championship 
 
 JOHNS CREEK, Ga.  One hour after he started, Tiger Woods was atop the leaderboard Thursday at the PGA Championship and felt like the Tiger of old. He never imagined he would end up with his worst score ever in the opening round of a major. 
 
 He opened with three birdies in five holes. He followed with three double bogeys over the next 10 holes. 
 
 Woods started out with his name high on the board, right next to Steve Stricker, who went on to tie a major championship record with 63. He wound up toward the bottom, next to John Daly and 57-year-old Jerry Pate, with a 77. 
 
 It was his highest round in a major since Woods shot an 81 in the vicious wind and pelting rain of Muirfield in the third round of the British Open nine years ago. 
 
 And it was no mystery to him how it all happened. 
 
 "Got off to a great start today, was 3 under early, was having mechanical thoughts through those holes … and I thought, 'I can let it go' and play by instinct and feel," he said. "And it just screwed up my whole round. I'm not at that point where I can do that yet." 
 
 Woods returned to competition last week and completed his first tournament since the Masters, staying away from golf until he was certain that injuries to his left leg would no longer cause him trouble. 
 
 The head — not to mention his swing — still have plenty of work. 
 
 Looking serious as ever when he walked onto the putting green to begin warming up, dressed in a deep coral shirt and blank pants, close to a Sunday look. Then came an 18-foot birdie putt on the opening hole, No. 10, an aggressive 5-wood from a blind shot in the pine straw on the par-5 12th, followed by a bunker shot from a plugged lie to 3 feet for another birdie. 
 
 He hammered a drive more than 300 yards in the air on the 14th, leaving him a wedge to 3 feet for another birdie. 
 
 "He's back!" a fan cried out from behind the green as Woods approached. 
 
 Not quite. 
 
 It was the highest opening round for Woods in any tournament since he shot 79 at the Australian Open in 1996. He is due to play Down Under again in November. At this rate, that might be his next tournament. 
 
 Not since the final round at Bay Hill in 2007 had Woods made at least three double bogeys in one round. He started this carnage with a 4-iron on the 254-yard 15th hole that didn't look awful until it landed, just to the right of the green and into the pond. 
 
 On the 18th, his tee shot flew into the bunker with such force that it buried into the side of the sand, and he did well to get it out sideways to the fairway. But he missed his target by some 30 yards on the next shot, into another bunker, and took another double bogey. 
 
 His final double bogey came from a fairway bunker at No. 6, a shot he knew was bad as soon as he hit it. It landed in the middle of the pound, and then it was a matter of limiting the damage. He finished with a bogey from the bunker. 
 
 Woods was in the sand a dozen times. 
 
 He has talked about going back to his old swing while trying to learn a new one, and he said that was the case Thursday. 
 
 "And that's what's frustrating," Woods said. "I thought I was playing well enough that I don't have to do that. I can just go out and there play and let it go and just play by feel — see the shot, hit the shot, feel it. And I'm not at that point yet. My same motor patterns get in there. I start fighting it and I couldn't get it back." 
 
 Woods might not have much time left. He is No. 129 in the standings for the FedEx Cup playoffs that start in two weeks. If he misses the cut Friday — he has only done that twice in the majors — he would not be eligible for any PGA Tour events for six weeks. 
 
 *** 
 
 Tiger Woods' highest rounds as a pro: 
 
 81: 2002 British Open, third round, Muirfield 
 
 79: 1996 Australian Open, first round, The Australian 
 
 78: 1998 Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, third round, Pebble Beach 
 
 78: 1996 Tour Championship, second round, Southern Hills 
 
 77: 2011 PGA Championship, first round, Atlanta Athletic Club 
 
 77: 2010 Bridgestone Invitational, fourth round, Firestone CC 
 
 77: 2002 Buick Invitational, second round, Torrey Pines (South) 
 
 77: 1998 British Open, third round, Royal Birkdale 
 
 77: 1998 Bay Hill Invitational, fourth round, Bay Hill 
 
 77: 1997 Las Vegas Invitational, third round, TPC Summerlin 
 
 Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. 
 
 Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to For more information about reprints & permissions , visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com ||||| THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- If so inclined, there are certainly more than a few ways to poke holes in Tiger Woods' victory on Sunday -- his first anywhere in two years -- not the least of which is he didn't have to beat very many players. 
 
 The Chevron World Challenge is not an official PGA Tour event, a handful of golfers in the 18-player field are probably not as fully engaged as they might otherwise be, and the tournament benefits Woods' foundation, which means it is a week in which he is highly motivated, regardless of his well-chronicled winless streak. 
 
 After a tense back nine that saw him birdie the last two holes to defeat Zach Johnson on Sunday, nobody should be suggesting that the former No. 1 player in the world is immediately back to previous heights, that he's going to win the Grand Slam in 2012 or that he is even going to win multiple times following his 36th birthday later this month. 
 
 But he had to start somewhere, didn't he? 
 
 "Winning means everything to him, whether it's an 18-man field or Augusta National,'' said veteran caddie Joe LaCava, who has been on Woods' bag since October. "He wants to win and get in the winner's circle. He knows it's not 144 guys. He knows it's not the Masters. 
 
 "But still, winning is winning and you're beating 17 other really good players on a tough golf course in tough conditions. It means a lot. It wouldn't have been the end of the world if he lost and it's not the end of the world that he won. But it does mean a lot.'' 
 
 And that is probably the proper way to look at Woods' one-shot victory over Johnson that concluded with Woods sinking a 6-foot birdie putt on the final hole. 
 
 After more than two years, a total of 749 days, a stretch of 26 tournaments, Tiger Woods has finally won again. 
 
 In the interim, his life went to hell due to an ugly scandal, he lost millions of dollars in endorsements, he got divorced, changed swing coaches, then endured injuries that caused him to miss four months and two major championships this year. 
 
 So, yeah, winning the Chevron isn't exactly the same as hoisting a major championship trophy. It's not the same as winning Bay Hill or Buick. 
 
 But for Woods, after all he's been through, and considering the scrutiny his game endures -- from shot to shot, hole to hole, tournament to tournament -- this was more than a nice little win at his charity tournament. 
 
 "Any different?'' Woods repeated when the question came about how it compares to his other victories -- which total 14 majors, 71 PGA Tour titles and 83 worldwide wins. "It feels great. I know it's been a while, but also for some reason, it feels like it hasn't. 
 
 "When I was coming down the stretch there, I felt so comfortable. I felt comfortable in Oz [Australia]. I felt comfortable in Augusta. When I'm putting myself in those positions, it is comfortable.'' 
 
 Woods was referring to his only other close calls this year: a tie for fourth at the Masters, where he was tied for the lead on the back nine on Sunday; and the Australian Open three weeks ago, where he held the second-round lead, coughed it up with a third-round 75, then rallied to finish third, two strokes out of a playoff. 
 
 But a bigger-picture view should be applied. Regardless of the stature of the tournament at Sherwood, it offered another example that Woods' game is progressing. 
 
 [+] Enlarge Allan Henry/US Presswire Tiger Woods stood in the 18th fairway tied with Zach Johnson for the Chevron World Challenge lead. But Woods' approach shot got inside Johnson's and then Woods sank the birdie putt for his first victory since November 2009. 
 
 His 3-under-par 69 was his third score in the 60s this week and gives him nine in his past 11 stroke-play rounds. Unlike at various points in his comeback from personal woes and injury, Woods has been putting himself in the heat of contention, not to mention the pressure that came with the Presidents Cup two weeks ago. 
 
 And he admitted that the constant analysis of his game exacts a price. 
 
 "Yeah, I got it quite a bit -- basically every tournament I played in front of you guys [the media],'' he said. "Started out, you haven't won in six months, then a year, year and a half, two years. 
 
 "So it feels good to win a golf tournament, but that's not the reason I was playing. I'm not playing for you guys or anything like that. Just playing to get the W. At the beginning of the week, that's what I said, and I was able to get it.'' 
 
 Perhaps it is the way he got it that will be of most importance to him. 
 
 Woods trailed Johnson by one stroke when the final round began after a third-round 73 that saw him bogey three of the par-5 holes. 
 
 He appeared to be in control after making birdies at the 10th and 11th holes to forge a two-shot advantage. With two par-5s to play, Woods figured to be in good shape. 
 
 But he missed the 12th green and failed to get up and down for par, then was tied when Johnson made a birdie at the 14th. And when Johnson -- who held off Woods to win the 2007 Masters -- outplayed Woods in the layup game at the par-5 16th, his birdie putt him one stroke ahead. 
 
 All Woods did then was birdie the final two holes, knocking a 9-iron to 15 that he converted for a birdie on the par-3 17th. And then at the 18th, after Johnson had hit his approach to 10 feet, Woods again hit a 9 iron, this time to 6 feet. 
 
 Like the old days, Woods drained the putt, this time to a fist pump and large roars of approval from a packed gallery surrounding the 18th hole. 
 
 Johnson could only watch at that point, nodding as if he expected it. 
 
 "If the man is healthy, that's paramount,'' Johnson said. "He's the most experienced and the best player I've ever played with. In every situation, he knows how to execute and win.'' 
 
 Woods now gets to take some good vibes and a healthy dose of confidence into a mini offseason. It's been a hectic month for Woods, who went to work when finally able to try and get ready for the Presidents Cup. 
 
 He played a series of exhibitions in Asia and Australia prior to the Australian Open, then had a strong week -- if not a great record -- at the Presidents Cup. After a week off came the Chevron tournament, which he has now won five times. 
 
 How significant the victory is will continue to be the subject of conjecture, but it is interesting to note that the small field had 11 players from the top 25 in the Official World Golf Ranking -- and that doesn't include Woods, who moved up to 21st with the victory. 
 
 For comparison, the 12-player Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa won by No. 3 Lee Westwood on Sunday had six top-25 players; and the full-field Hong Kong Open on the European Tour won by Rory McIlroy had just three of the top 25. 
 
 Woods wasn't quibbling, and neither was LaCava, the long-time caddie to Fred Couples and for a short-time Dustin Johnson. 
 
 And it was LaCava who wrapped it up nicely, with a nod to some drama involving Woods and his former caddie, Steve Williams, earlier this year. 
 
 "I haven't won any, make sure of that first,'' LaCava said, a reference to Williams' comments after a victory caddying for Adam Scott in August. "But I've been along for the ride on a few and it's very nice. 
 
 "Poor guy couldn't make a putt in two days and then he made the last two look easy. It was a lot of fun. I told him, it wasn't easy, but it was a lot of fun.'' 
 
 Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.
– Tiger Woods' second round of the US Open is over, and you will currently find his name second from the bottom on the leaderboard. Which means that out of 156 golfers, he is tied for 154th place. Some are still playing, and it's possible one or two more might end up behind him, but no matter what, his 16-over-par means that he will miss the cut by a mile, reports USA Today. What's more, this is pretty much business as usual for Woods these days. "At a certain point, all of the stragglers are going to let it go—the hangers-on who still believe that Tiger Woods has a chance to regain at least some of his past glory and start playing excellent golf once again, winning a tournament here or there and maybe even another major," writes Steve Silverman at CBS. Those looking for a new phenom might pay attention to 15-year-old Cole Hammer, who is about to start his second round. It's a long shot, but if he finished at 4-under today, he'd probably make the cut.