AUGUSTA, Ga. - So we get Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson paired together on Masters Sunday, after all, but probably only as more of a sideshow than a meaningful duel. They go off an hour before the leaders, each seven shots back, each with one foot on their private jets home.

Maybe CBS can convince them to play it as a Skins match. Nothing against co-leaders Kenny Perry and Angel Cabrera, but most of America probably would find it more compelling.

This was the week we expected so much more. But in truth, you can’t be surprised about Mickelson. Despite his two wins this year, he hasn’t truly contended at a major since his meltdown at the Winged Foot U.S. Open in 2006.

No, this is more of a Tiger story at the moment. If he could play Superman and win the U.S. Open last June despite excruciating pain in his knee, surely he would be ready for this Masters after knee surgery 10 months ago.

As it turns out, however, it seems pretty obvious he wasn’t ready for the grinding intensity and precise shot-making required to win the Masters.

Tiger can deny it all he wants, as he did firmly Saturday, but this is still spring training for him. If he were a pitcher, in fact, you might call this his dead-arm period.

This is only his third stroke-play tournament of the year after an eight-month layoff for surgery and rehab. And though Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational two weeks ago, thanks mainly to a collapse by Sean O’Hair, the strain of the first major of the year has exposed his game as, well, un-Tiger-like.

In something of a retro Masters that has been extremely birdie-friendly, Tiger has had to use all of his famous willpower just to make pars. After a 70 on Saturday that left him at 4-under, seven strokes behind the leaders, Woods seemed proud that he hasn’t succumbed to disaster after double-bogeying the first hole.

“Man, I fought hard to get it back today,’’ he said. “That was a hell of a fight.’’

Tiger will always fight, we know that. But this was a Masters that he wanted to win very badly to add to his legend, coming back after his nine-month layoff, and barring a multi-player collapse of historic proportion among the leaders, Tiger will be an afterthought Sunday.

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It’s not even so much that he’s seven strokes back as it is that he has nine players to overtake. And since the Masters tournament committee will set up the back-nine for scoring in the hope of producing the type of firework for which this tournament was once famous, it's hard to imagine the leaders all shooting 76.

On TV they’ll no doubt be touting the possibility of Tiger going low and pulling out a miracle win, but it’s just not realistic. For one thing, he has never come from behind on Sunday to win a major, and for another, his game isn’t in that kind of form.

His putter has been cold, his driver has been inconsistent, and perhaps most telling, Tiger’s iron-play has been a bit erratic. Saturday, in fact, he missed the 18th green for a third straight day with a short iron in his hand, mistakes that were nothing short of shocking for the world’s No. 1 player.

Here’s how Nick Faldo, on CBS, described what he was seeing on the Masters telecast Saturday: “Tiger got in the way of Tiger.’’

No, this is not what we’ve become accustomed to seeing from Tiger at a major, especially at the Masters. Even in failing to win the last three years, a streak that matches his longest victory-drought at Augusta National, he has always been part of the Sunday drama.

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Instead, he and Mickelson will play for bragging rights, and something won’t feel quite right. In the last 10 years they have combined to win five times and finish fifth or higher seven other times.

With the pressure likely off, they might sneak up the leaderboard, but this surely will be remembered as the week that Tiger just wasn’t ready. Not that he’s willing to admit the layoff or the rehab was a factor.

“No, it’s not that all,’’ he said Saturday. “I just wasn’t as sharp as I needed to be.’’

Surprisingly, as he answered questions after his round, Tiger seemed to be in a good mood, joking that he shot the 63 he needed, except “I just had a couple of more holes still to play.’’

On Thursday and Friday he'd shown his frustration, but basically you got the feeling Saturday that, while saying he believed he still had a chance to win, Tiger knew his chance had passed. After storming to the range after his two previous rounds, Tiger was asked what he wanted to go work on.

“I need to eat,’’ he said. “That’s what I’m going to go do.’’

And that was that. Not to worry, though. By the time the U.S. Open comes to Bethpage, figure that spring training will be over for Tiger.

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