He has an outstanding weekend over here, a great round over there, and a bunch of ordinary in between. A victory in, say, Akron, but disappointment in Augusta. A ton of money along the way, but not as many records in his wake.
Maybe the new Tiger is more like ... Ernie Els. Or Vijay Singh. Or, dare we say it, Phil Mickelson?
It's certainly worth thinking about. Perhaps it is even, based on his performance, a necessary discussion.
Another major is about to conclude and Woods still is trying to get started. If the past three days are any indication, he is about to finish the Masters with his worst score at Augusta since turning pro.
For a time, he was defined by the majors. His season was built around them and his legacy was growing on top of them. If your choice was picking Tiger versus the field, you were better off with him. In 11 majors spanning four seasons, Woods won seven times.
Now, he's about to fall short for the seventh consecutive time. And it's not even a big surprise.
"It's frustrating," Woods said Saturday after his second 75 in three rounds, "because I'm so close to putting it together."
This is his new motto. The way he explains scores on the rise and a mystique on the decline. He stands outside the scoring tent on No. 18 and talks about shots that didn't fall. Opportunities that slipped away.
For heaven's sake, he talks about how today's forecast for rain might help him back into contention.
This is the player who once made every other pro tremble? The one Jack Nicklaus said would not lose until someone was willing to stand up to him?
For the past five years, Woods has been No. 1 on the tour in scoring average. His average never wavered beyond 67.79 to 68.81.
Yet, today, his season average is 70.56. By the end of the weekend, he might not even rank in the tour's top 20 in that category.
Woods has been shaky in the fairways and inconsistent on the greens. He looks as if he finds his stroke one day and loses it the next.
He remains the No. 1 player in the world - and the Masters results will not change that - but Woods no longer leaves magic in his wake.
"We all would like to struggle like Tiger is struggling," Nicklaus said on the eve of the Masters. "But for him, relatively so, he probably is struggling. It's probably frustrating for him.
"I got frustrated at times when I went a few tournaments without winning a major."
So what is the problem?
Does his swing have flaws? Has he lost his way since dumping longtime coach Butch Harmon? Has his hunger been sated by his riches? Has his passion for golf been replaced by his fiancee?
They all have been floated as potential explanations, though there does not seem to be a definitive answer.
Noted golf instructor Jim McLean suggests in Golf World magazine that, since dropping Harmon, Woods has been patterning his backswing after close friend Mark O'Meara.
Woods knows his swing isn't quite the same as it was in 2000, but says he is returning to the basics to correct it.
His struggles, he says, are not as severe as people seem to think. Fine-tuning is needed more than an overhaul. He still finishes in the top 10 more often than not and still has not missed a cut in six years.
It is, he says, a matter of perspective.
"I was compared to Nicklaus when I first came out here," Woods said. "Now I'm being compared to what I did in 2000, 1999, 2001.
"That's just the way it is."
Truth be told, that's the way it should be.
Woods established the parameters himself, both by his play and his ambitions. Not to mention, he has become one of history's richest athletes through endorsements that were based on overwhelming domination.
By the summer of 2002, he was 26 and the winner of eight majors. He already had passed Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer and Sam Snead.
It seemed a foregone conclusion he would run down Nicklaus, who holds the record at 18. Some even suggested he might win more than Nicklaus and Palmer combined.
Now, however, he is 28 and has the same eight majors in his bag. He is having difficulty dominating the field, let alone history.
Palmer said the influences of fame, money and marriage will impact Woods in the future. How he handles them will determine his eventual legacy.
The important thing is he still has plenty of time. Nicklaus won seven of his majors between 30 and 35. Palmer won seven between 28 and 35. "The time between now and 35 could be the absolute best years of his life," Palmer said. "He could double or triple what he has done in the past in these next seven years.
"But at the same time, the other things, whatever they might be, are going to have some influence on him. How much? No one knows. I can't crawl in his brain and tell you.
"I'm not sure he can crawl in his own brain and tell you what it's going to mean.
