Atlanta, Georgia: His post-round interview over and his cap turned backwards, Tiger Woods climbed into the driving seat of his Mercedes courtesy car and drove out of the players' car-park at Atlanta Athletic Club on Friday night to who-knows-where.
It was ever thus for the enigmatic golfer, but as he disappeared into his own private world he left behind a public world that has changed for good.
Worst ever
Once upon a time it seemed Woods was too big for golf. In the aftermath of a shocking two days at the US PGA Championship, where the former world No 1 turned in his worst ever major performance, it seemed as if the game of golf had become too big for him.
Mr Control is no longer in control and the strain is finally beginning to show. Woods looked utterly humbled as he assessed his ten-over-par performance for the assembled journalists a rare state indeed for a fiercely proud athlete but one that seemed to free him from the rhetorical prison he has built for himself over the years.
There were no platitudes or cliches. He didn't bristle, he spoke quietly and with an apparent honesty seldom heard when he stands before a microphone.
"I showed signs that I can hit the ball exactly how I know I can. Unfortunately, I just didn't do it enough times," he said, before looking ahead to his future. "Now I'll have nothing to do but work on my game,"
Simple. Except, as Woods knows better than anyone, it is not. Professional golf at this level never is. For one thing, how exactly will he work on his game? Will he spend endless hours on the practice range? Or will he choose to play in a few tournaments?
He might have been expected to play in the PGA Tour's four end-of-season play-off events, but they are only open to players who finish inside the top 125 in the FedEx Points list which he did not. He was expected to play in the HSBC Championship in China in November but, as things stand, he can't.
The event, a world golf championship, is only open to the tournament winners from around the world and the sport's top 25 ranked players. Woods has not won anything for almost two years and is currently ranked 30th.
Fall season possibility
There is a suggestion he could enter one of the events during the PGA Tour's "fall season" a run of second-tier events which usually attract players desperately trying to keep their tour card. "It is something we will discuss," Woods's agent Mark Steinberg said on Friday.
Andre Agassi did something along these lines when his career plumbed the depths in 1998, dropping down to play on the second-tier Challenger Tour with the aim of learning how to win.
It worked for the American tennis legend, who came back to complete the career grand slam, but it seems unlikely that Woods would humble himself to such a degree. His more likely approach is to set up his stall on the nearest practice course and, to coin the old Ben Hogan phrase, "dig it out of the dirt".
If this is his choice he will do it under the guidance of Sean Foley, the controversial swing coach whom many believe is partly, though not entirely, responsible for the deterioration in Woods's game.
RESULTS
135 - Jason Dufner (USA) 70-65, Keegan Bradley (USA) 71-64
136 - D.A. Points (USA) 69-67, Jim Furyk (USA) 71-65, John Senden (AUS) 68-68, Scott Verplank (USA) 67-69
137 - Anders Hansen (DEN) 68-69, Brendan Steele (USA) 69-68, Steve Stricker (USA) 63-74, Brandt Jobe (USA) 68-69
138 - Jhonattan Vegas (VEN) 70-68, Adam Scott (AUS) 69-69, Jerry Kelly (USA) 65-73
139 - Scott Piercy (USA) 71-68, Lee Westwood (ENG) 71-68, Davis Love (USA) 68-71
140 - Johnson Wagner (USA) 71-69, Mark Wilson (USA) 69-71, Trevor Immelman (RSA) 69-71, Simon Dyson (ENG) 68-72, Brendon de Jonge (ZIM) 68-72, Gary Woodland (USA) 70-70, Ross Fisher (ENG) 71-69, Charles Howell (USA) 72-68, Robert Garrigus (USA) 70-70
— Guardian News & Media Limited
