SHEBOYGAN, Wis. - For the first time, Tiger Woods seems like yesterday.

That is not to say he has no tomorrows left. That is not to say he won't find some epiphany this morning that will allow him to finish decently in this PGA Championship.

That is not even to say he has played terribly here, even though he barely contributed a jab to the mass knockout of Whistling Straits on Saturday.

He stands tied for 32nd going into the final round Sunday, 10 shots behind Nick Watney. There were 19 scores below 70, but Woods shot par 72.

For the first time since 2006 Woods has failed to break 70 in nine consecutive rounds. And for the first time ever he has failed to win a golf tournament in a calendar year, with limited chances remaining.

What are his chances here?

"Well, some guys have shot in the 50's this year, haven't they?" he asked, smiling.

Woods does not turn 35 until Dec. 30, and we're all aware that golfers are unique that way, that they can still win big in their Metamucil years. Jack Nicklaus won a Masters at 46 and he also won an Open and a PGA at 40.

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But at the PGA you see the world of golf moving on, aware of Woods but too busy to be preoccupied.

Of the six top finishers Saturday, only Jim Furyk is older than Woods, and Martin Kaymer is 22 and Rory McIlroy 21. McIlroy was 8 when Woods laid down the fear factor at the 1997 Masters.

More striking, the thought of playing in Woods' group is no longer reason to hyperventilate. K.J. Choi was by Tiger's side for 72 holes at the Masters and made a far stronger run than Woods did. Here, Vijay Singh shot 66 as Woods' partner in the second round. Then Steve Elkington, who had lost his tour card and is 47 besides, shot 67, including a back-nine 31, with Woods in the third round.

And then there's the par 5's. They once were Tiger's dessert cart.

There are four of them here, some of them rather complicated, but Woods has only birdied two of 12 and is 1-over par overall.

Watney birdied all four on Saturday and is 9 under for the week.

"Tell me about it," Woods grunted. "I just haven't played them well all week. I've struggled at No. 5, even when I've hit a good tee shot."

In the third round, Woods bogeyed No. 4. The old Woods would have turned the fifth hole on his knee and spanked it, for revenge. Here, he hit a nice drive but then shoved the second shot into the right prairie and couldn't save par.

"A 5-wood was a lot of club there, and a 3-iron wasn't enough," he said. "I went with a little 5-wood and I happened to smoke it, and it rode the wind and was out of here."

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But maybe the par-5 blues are the best indicator yet. You can't make them obey unless you hit two excellent shots consecutively, and that is beyond Woods at the moment.

No doubt Woods would be comforted if he could isolate one problem, study it and dismiss it. No doubt most of us would. But like the weekend 90-shooter, Woods is running into something different with every hole.

He putted superbly when he resumed his morning round and made three birdies to come home with a 2-under-par 70. That should have provided traction. Instead Woods hit crisp irons on No. 2 and No. 3 and made neither 10-foot birdie putt. Then he couldn't save par on No. 4, and he began scooting down the standings, although birdies on 17 and 18 deadened the pain.

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He is tied for sixth in putting this week.

"Things are starting to solidify," he claimed. "It's not like I'm working on eight different things. It's just a couple of key things. It feels a lot better."

But only better in comparison to last week's 18-over-par debacle in Akron, in which Woods was so far down the list he teed off and finished before CBS' Sunday telecast began. Golf World ran an eloquent photo of the scene at 7:45 last Sunday, when Woods teed off. The bleachers were 75 percent empty.

"I'm far closer to encouraged than discouraged," Woods said. "I feel so much better, I'm hitting the golf ball better, the sound is better. The feel, more than anything, feels good. But you have to make putts.

"I haven't driven the ball except for two weeks this year and even then I didn't putt well those weeks. No matter how good I hit, I couldn't get up-and-down. It's been one of those years."

Those years always happened to those other players, back when Tiger was too young to qualify for a mid-golf crisis.

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