Mike Celizic

The last time Tiger Woods was this ticked about the way he hacked it around a major championship venue was nearly two years ago at the U.S. Open at Winged Foot. And he made everybody pay.

The circumstances are different. In 2006, Tiger took two months off after his father died, then tried to come back for the Open without sufficient practice. He missed the cut, went home, then watched Phil Mickelson and Colin Montgomerie gag on the 18^th hole and give the tournament away. He kicked himself for not being there to show everybody how it was done, then went to the British Open and thrashed the field at Royal Liverpool.

This year, he didn’t have grief or rust to blame. The blood he spilled on Augusta National leaked out of self-inflicted wounds. He knows it, and he’s furious with himself. And when Tiger gets angry, watch out.

The next major arrives in June at Torrey Pines, a course that Tiger practically owns. He’s already won once there this year and five times in his career. You know he’ll have a long talk with the recalcitrant putter that sabotaged his hopes at Augusta. And come Father’s Day, I’d be surprised if he’s not taking custody of another U.S. Open.

I said pretty much the same thing in 2006 and called the British Open win. That said, nothing is carved in stone in this game, and the face of the competition has changed since 2006. The last two Masters champions are evidence enough of that — Zach Johnson and Trevor Immelman.

We keep looking to Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh and Ernie Els to provide the competition for Tiger, but none of those stars have been up to the task. Lefty had as good a shot at this year's green jacket as anyone, but he upchucked all over the course. Singh was nowhere to be found. Els may as well not be playing.

Tiger’s too much in their heads. Mickelson won three majors, but his brain still misfires under pressure, particularly when Tiger’s in the mix. It’s understandable. Mickelson and Singh were on top of the Tour when Tiger arrived, and they’ve spent the past decade getting their tails handed to them.

For most of that decade, we’ve been asking where Tiger’s competition is going to come from. Now we know. It’s guys like Johnson and Immelman, guys who are just arriving and don’t have the benefit of having been kicked around by Tiger for years. Neither one of them has any reason to be scared of Woods. Neither one of them is.

What they saw this week is that Woods is human. Like just about everybody else alive, when he tries too hard, he gets worse instead of better. No one’s better than Woods with a lead, but when he’s chasing ... it's not pretty. For all his incredible achievements, he’s never won a major by coming from behind, and Immelman is the latest newcomer to learn that.

Those are dangerous thoughts for these kids to have — dangerous to Woods, who counts intimidation among his most powerful weapons. If more kids like Immelman get the same idea, we could be entering a new, exciting and welcomingly unpredictable era in golf.

I expect him to win at Torrey Pines and will be surprised if he doesn’t, but I won’t be shocked. The course he’s won five tournaments on will have narrower fairways, deeper rough and faster greens than the one he’s known and loved over the years.

That’s the best thing about what has happened to him this year and last at Augusta National. It’s breathed life and uncertainty into the Tour. And it’s issued a new challenge to Woods.

Video   Immelman masters Augusta April 13: Tiger reveals where he lost it, Snedeker simply loses it and the champion tells of how great it is to be on top. NBC Sports

He knows he could have won the Masters, even this year when he started the final round six strokes behind Immelman. If he’d shot just a 68 to the South African’s 75, Woods would have won. He knows that, and it’s got to hurt.

Great athletes respond to great challenges. For Woods, the challenge has always come from within. And he’s always risen to it.

He knows what his job is. It’s to regain control of himself and his game, to show these kids that they can’t mess around with Tiger Woods, to continue his drive on Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major wins.

Now he’s angry, and it’s all directed at himself. He blew this one, performed poorly under self-imposed pressure, gave life and hope to his competition. He doesn’t want to let it happen again.

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