The Masters 2004: In the old cowboy movies, High Noon had a different meaning. It was a time of great expectations, of life and death, when the goodie - in the white hat - faced up to the baddie - in the black hat - and the two attempted to make the other eat metal and taste dust.

Yesterday, at midday, 10 minutes before his tee-time, Tiger Woods sauntered onto the putting green between the first tee and the 10th tee on the final day of the US Masters.

He was wearing his traditional red shirt. "I wear it because my mom believes it's a power colour for Capricorns," he told us in Sawgrass, exactly a fortnight previously. Already, he was soaked in sweat, seemingly from his time on the range, but as we later learned, from a bout of food poisoning. His body language told a story that has become all too familiar, that this was a major that already out of his grasp. Almost nonchalantly, he went through his putting routine; and more putts missed the hole than plonked to the bottom of the tin cup.

As he walked down the fairway after his first drive, on the way to the first bogey of his final round, it was to polite, almost sympathetic, applause. Woods, hungrier than any golfer on earth, is not the type of man who looks for or expects sympathy. And, anyway, how can you feel sorry for someone who has won over $40 million in prize money and made multiples of that in endorsements?

Yet, those behind the ropes, watching their hero walk down the first fairway at Augusta National over two hours before the last two-ball was due to hit off, were restrained in their outpourings; and Woods, head down, walked without acknowledging the tepid reception.

Once upon a time, he was king. He's still the world's number one, but Woods measures success by the number of majors won. He has eight, but none since he won the US Open in 2002. Since then, Woods has competed in seven majors and come up short in each one.

Last year, he finished in the top-10 only once - tied fourth in the British Open at Sandwich - and, now, the 2004 quest has started with another finish among the also rans.

It has been an all-too-familiar story this season, so far. His only win came in a non-strokeplay event, the Accenture Matchplay. Otherwise, it has been a tale of underachievement: tied-fourth in the Mercedes Championship; tied-10th in the Buick Open; tied-seventh in the Nissan Open; tied-46th in the Bay Hill Invitational and tied-16th in the Players' Championship.

Many journeymen professionals would call that a career season. But not Woods. By his standards, it's a poor season.

After his third round on Saturday, another 75 to sandwich the 69 of Friday, he contended - yet again - that his game wasn't far away.

"I'm just a little off," insisted Woods, which sounds more and more like Tiger-speak.

Since splitting with his longtime swing coach Butch Harmon after 2002, Woods has failed to win a major. The 2003 season was the first since 1998 that he had not won a major, and his current driving statistics and scoring average reflect the downturn that his game has taken: he ranks 119th on the US Tour in driving accuracy and 62nd in greens in regulation, with a scoring average of 70.23, his highest since turning professional.

Yesterday was another day so typical of recent times for Woods, too much unpredictability in a round that featured six birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey in a final round 69 for two-over-par 290.

Indeed, his lacklustre demeanour on the putting green and while walking down the first fairway was explained afterwards by the revelation that he was required to get sick after the first round, the result of "a lunch that didn't agree with me". He added: "After the first green, I was feeling hot and cold . . . I had to get it out of me."

Woods bemoaned the number of putts he took throughout the week. In fact, yesterday was the only day that he broke 30, taking 29 putts and averaging 1.708 (per green) over the four days. "I didn't make any putts this week and you've got to make them around here. You can't go around here and not putt well. I hit a couple of bad shots, but I'm disappointed because I didn't win. I felt I was hitting the ball well."

This week, Woods heads in to an American army boot camp to undergo a week of army training. He's told us that this is what he would do, be in the military, if he weren't destined to be a golfer. "This is something I have always wanted to do," he insisted. It may also be something that he needs to get out of his system, and getting away from golf for a week may do him the world of good. Who knows? On his return to the fairways, we may see something closer to the Woods of old. Of 2002 and before.