If he wins another seven majors, which I expect he will, he’ll be ahead of Nicklaus, and if he ends up with more PGA tournament wins than Sam Snead, which I also expect he will, there’ll be no way to say he wasn’t the greatest ever.

But if he never comes from even one stroke back to win a major, there’ll be no way to say his record is beyond cavil or question. If he never shows the resilience that made Arnold Palmer a hero, the grit that Nicklaus and Tom Watson and Lee Trevino and Ben Hogan had, the fortitude to snatch victory from the grasp of another, that’s going to stay with him.

Fifty years from now, when he’s hitting the ceremonial first drive to open the Masters, the man talking you through it will say, “What a magnificent sight to see Tiger Woods, who won this tournament so many times, hitting one more off the first tee. He set records that may stand forever. But curiously, he never came from behind to win a major.”

If he stays around to chat with his old antagonists in the media, someone will ask him about that hole in his resume. They may even bring up 2007, when it was there for him to take but he was outplayed by Zach Johnson.

What’s he going to say? That those bogies on Friday and Saturday lost it? Or that he shot a 72 when a mere 69 would have won it?

SPECIAL FEATURE His best score on each hole at Augusta

He plays the game better than anyone I’ve ever seen, and he’s the best frontrunner anyone has ever seen. But to be the greatest, he’s got to show he can dig down deep and find a way to overcome adversity.

Sunday at Augusta was a perfect time to do that. And he not only came up short, he didn’t really come close.