US Open: In the not so olden days, Tiger Woods would normally find himself in the thick of the hunt on the homeward run in a major on a Sunday. Sadly, for the world's number one, those days are becoming part of a memory, ever more distant with each passing championship, to be relived on videos in his home in Orlando.

Yesterday was another of those final-round days when Woods was confined to a minor role in a major. It was also another day that made his former coach Butch Harmon seem wiser. The more Tiger misses fairways - and he missed a lot over the four days at Shinnecock Hills - and the more he requires incredible approach shots to save pars or make birdies, the smarter Harmon looks.

Harmon accused Woods of being secretive about what aspect of his swing he is working on. Woods's response was to huff like a spoilt schoolboy caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Obviously, he doesn't really know what I'm working on," smarted Woods. "He's never asked me and I haven't talked to him about it and no one knows. I don't understand why he (Harmon) would even say anything like that, especially when we've been as close as we are. I don't understand where he comes from."

Woods added: "We'd resolved everything, I thought . . . it doesn't do himself or anyone any good to do that."

So, we can take it that Harmon, for so long an integral part of "Team Tiger", but cast aside almost two years ago, won't be getting a phone call from Orlando any time soon asking him back into the fold.

Nick Price, also, wasn't willing to sit on the fence about the fate that has befallen Woods.

"There's something wrong with his swing. This is the first time we're seeing him missing fairways with an iron off the tee. Until he starts hitting fairways, I don't think he's going to play any better. He can't keep doing this. It's not one shot (that's gone wrong), he's hitting a big hook and blocking it too," observed Price.

"When he starts hitting more fairways, then he'll win again. Every great player has gone through a lull in his career. Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus . . . (but) we need him back in the picture."

There are many theories why Woods is not playing up to the level he was at from 1999 to 2002, when he topped the US Tour money list for four straight years. One of them is meeting his fiancée, Elin Nordegren.

In yesterday's Newsday, there's even a cartoon of Woods, eyes popping, meeting Elin with a Jasper Parnevik-like figure introducing them, "Tiger, Elin. Elin, Tiger", and Elin going, "Sooo nice to meet you . . ."

The caption reads: "2001: The beginning of the road to mediocrity for Tiger Woods."

Except there is nothing funny about the man's reduction to a bit-part player while major drama has been unfolding.

After this 104th US Open, the facts speak for themselves. Woods, the man who dreams of eclipsing Nicklaus's record haul of major wins, has gone eight major championships without a victory.

Harmon's words, at this stage, must feel like piercing arrows. His former coach claimed Woods is in "denial". The joke going around here for the past few days is that Woods thinks that's a river in Africa.