Is This The Week Tiger Finally Wins Again?

If you want to get into numbers crunching regarding Tiger Woods' there are plenty to crunch.

How about this one that Woods wasn't aware of until asked about it Wednesday: He's won 12 of 17 tournaments he's played after the British Open since 2006. I know, that's really parsing it but, still, 12 out of 17 is pretty good from the foul line and insane in golf tournaments.

Then there are these statistical factoids unearthed by another reporter:

In 2008, Woods made 93.5 percent of his putts between five and 15 feet. That's beyond outrageous if you didn't know. This year, he's making 44.3 percent. That's as average as a burger and fries.

Here's another one from the same study of Tiger's fall to mortaldom: On shots from 100 to 125 yards, Woods has fallen from first on tour (in accuracy) to 192nd. No wonder he hasn't won.

Here it is August and Tiger ranks 111th in FedEx Cup points, which means he may not qualify for more than one playoff event if he doesn't get his swoosh in gear. He's ninth in Ryder Cup points and only eight automatically make the team (oooh, I wonder if Corey Pavin will pick him) and he's 80th on the money list (where he makes his spending money).

All of that leads us to this week, the World Golf Championship Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone, where Tiger (pardon another stat) has won seven of the last 10 times he's teed it up. But, as we all know, this year is different.

Since he showed up that Monday morning at Augusta National, we've been waiting to see the old Tiger and, except for Saturday afternoon at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, he's gone missing. He's been there in body, but perhaps not in mind and spirit.

This week at Firestone figures to be the week we get a proper read on where Woods and his golf game are. He admits he's putted like a 12-handicap at the same time he's finally figured out how to drive it in the fairway again.

His practice time has been gnawed away by other responsiblities. His kids. Perhaps his lawyers.

Tiger's return to his former glory is now in question.

This is his time of year. He says he feels his game coming together. This week he's playing Firestone. Next week, the PGA Championship.

He's been through longer winless spells as a pro. But not one quite like this one.

Will it end soon? Even Tiger probably wonders.