You’ve likely heard all the puns. There was “Rob Rocks over Tiger.” Or “Rock acting like a rolling stone and over Woods.” Or maybe you caught the column that compared Robert Rock’s win over Tiger Woods in Abu Dhabi on Sunday to Rocky Balboa’s takedown of Apollo Creed. It was a big upset after all.

Or was it? That’s the question that really should be asked. Tiger Woods of yesteryear would have dusted little-known Rock like Buffy at a vampire convention. Sure there are unknowns that had epic battles with Woods – anyone remember Bob May? – but more often than not golfers folded like a cheap sheet when trying to take down Tiger on the final day of a tournament. 

That’s not what happened. Rock held his own – shooting 2-under to hold off not Woods, but a charging Rory McIlroy. Woods could do no better than par, dropping to third place. 

Woods on Sunday used to be like rain in Vancouver – automatic. But that wasn’t the case this week where Woods started the final round tied with Rock.  

"I was right there with a chance to win the tournament and I didn't do it," said Woods. 

That’s not something you’d have heard from Tiger Woods three years ago. He always got it done in the final round, leaving his competition reeling as he made seemingly impossible shots commonplace. 

There’s a lot of baggage, both professional and personal since those halcyon days. There’s the obvious matters stemming from his sex scandal, but while that damaged Woods’ armor, it didn’t fully diminish his power. However, injuries coupled with his philandering being made public, and then adding a swing change to the mix, left Woods as a non-factor for much of the past two years. 

Typical of sports, many took Woods’ win at his own small field event to end 2011 as a sign that his work with Canadian swing coach Sean Foley was complete. Healthy and with his swing in hand, many thought the old Woods, the one who dominated for more than a decade, might emerge. 

While that storyline would have generated headlines, golf is rarely that simple. Woods hit only a couple of fairways in the final round against Rock, and not many more greens. On the first three days of the tournament he appeared in command of his swing and his game. On the final day that came unraveled. 

Woods said several of his shots on the final day jumped off the planet – “A couple of my 3-woods went about 320,” he’d tell reporters – but clearly his major issue of the past couple of years – his wayward driving – resurfaced at a less than opportune time.