This Tiger Woods is far from great

From St. Andrews, Scotland — 

A quick summary of Saturday’s play in the third round of the British Open is as follows: Louie Oosthuizen maintained, Paul Casey charged and Tiger Woods remained invisible.

This is getting serious.

The man who lives for majors, who has won 14, is now dying in them. The engine who used to drive golf is having serious carburetor problems right now.

If we take him at his word, all can be fixed with a few more putts dropping into cups. That has been the theme, and continued to be after his second consecutive one-over-par round of 73 Saturday.

“I’m driving it great, and I was grinding out there today,” Woods said. “I’m just not making putts.”

We are starting to wonder if that is really Woods talking, or if he just sends a look-alike robot with a taped answer.

Of course, the issue — and concern — is not just of his doing, but ours too. We are spoiled.

We have come to assume that there will be a charge, that the chip shot will roll down the hill on the banked green on closing day of the Masters, stop at the cup with logo facing up — just long enough to present Nike with a million-dollar free ad — and drop in for the birdie that would be the deciding moment.

We take for granted one-hop chips into the cup at Torrey Pines, as well as impossible birdies from the rough on the 72nd hole of the U.S. Open there, making us watch another day as he limped to a playoff victory. Even though he was close, Rocco Mediate never had a chance. We knew that. The world knew that.

Suddenly, they all seem to have a chance.

The big leaderboard is 12 deep here, and Woods never made an appearance Saturday. Where have you gone, Tiger Woods? A nation of guys in loud polyester pants turns its lonely eyes to you.

Yes, he had the knee injury that put him out after Torrey Pines in 2008. And yes, he had the “marital excursion,” as the British call it. But it has been eight majors now without Woods hoisting the big trophy, and the image of invincibility is taking some hits.

Was the 2009 PGA Championship the first hint? Should our antennas have been up after Y.E. Yang’s stoppage of Woods’ 14 consecutive major victories when leading after 54 holes? Yipes! Y.E. Yang. That was, after all, pre-Cadillac-Gate. Should we have seen that as more than merely one of those things that is going to happen, even to a god of golf?

The Tiger Comeback of 2010 couldn’t have been set up better. There was the Masters, wide-open spaces, Tiger-friendly. Sure, Billy Payne slapped him a bit for Cadillac-Gate, but it was like home away from home. He had already won four times there.

Then there was the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. Over the years, he hadn’t just played Pebble, he’d owned it. His victory there in the 2000 Open was a 15-shot tail-whipping of the rest of pro golf.

Now we get to another warm-and-fuzzy place for Woods, St. Andrews and the British Open. The last two times they played it here, in 2000 and 2005, he raised the Claret Jug, and with some ease. He finished 19 under in 2000 and beat Colin Montgomerie by five in 2005.

But now, the putts aren’t sinking, his game’s not clicking and it’s anybody’s guess as to why.

Mark James, the outspoken former European Ryder Cup captain and TV analyst here, said the other day that he saw little chance for Woods to win here because he was moving his head too much on his swing and also because “his head is full of spaghetti right now.” No real malice intended. It was just a Brit expression for Woods’ likely state of confusion and distraction over his marriage woes.

Still, the media used to tiptoe around this golf deity, even over here. Not so much anymore. The Guardian newspaper, in its hole-by-hole report Saturday, had this to say in one summary:

“Tiger clanks just about the worst putt he has ever hit on 13, prodding his six-footer wide right and short of the hole. That was dismal. He’s rightly punished with a dropped shot. He’s back to -3. He aggressively shouts at himself, like an alcoholic in the street.”

Greatness can’t last forever, but Woods isn’t even 35 yet. Besides, for a while there, it wasn’t so much greatness as immortality we were viewing. This was, after all, the player who made us think that maybe Jack Nicklaus wasn’t the best of all time.

It is hard to get our arms around Woods as just another player. Still, with 12 shots to make up on leader Oosthuizen, and with 16 more players ahead of him going into Sunday’s final round, he needs the Miracle of St. Andrews.

Failing that, we seem to have a superstar whose greatness keeps sliding past the cup.

bill.dwyre@latimes.com.