Major doubts surface over Woods surpassing Nicklaus's tally

Louis Oosthuizen was a brilliant if unlikely victor in what was one of the wildest and weirdest Opens in living memory.

But as the South African lifted the old Claret Jug to the Fife skies after one of the most convincing triumphs in the tournament's 150-year history there were a few questions left hanging on the St Andrews breeze.

One of the biggest surrounded the whereabouts, in a golfing sense that is, of Tiger Woods.

Is the dominant era of Woods over? Has the man who pushed back the boundaries of the sport when he won the US Masters by 12 shots as a 21-year-old lost his aura?

Is the quest to overtake Jack Nicklaus's record tally of 18 majors becoming a distant dream?

Woods has 14 majors to his credit but he has not tasted such glory since the US Open in 2008, more than two years ago.

At St Andrews it was not that he played badly. Rather, it was that when those around him, men such as England's Paul Casey and Lee Westwood, Germany's Martin Kaymer and, in particular, Oosthuizen, were playing with daring and imagination he was becalmed by his inability to deliver birdies.

The 'Tiger charge' was once one of the most thrilling sights in sport. These days it is more of a plod.

He rarely plays a dreadful round and is seldom completely out of contention. After all, he finished fourth at the Masters and the US Open. But the genius of yesteryear appears to have gone.

That is the way it seemed in the final round, which started well enough for Woods with two birdies in the first three holes.

Just for a moment we remembered this was the man capable of performing the seemingly impossible to order.

It did not last long, the inconsistency which has marred his game resurfacing at the par-4 fourth when he landed in a pot bunker and struggled to find the exit, eventually taking a six to put an end to any lingering hopes of pulling off an incredible win.

And that is where Woods is these days, in a strange no-man's land. No longer the all-conquering phenomenon he was when he won by eight shots at St Andrews in 2000 and by five in 2005.

Yet his game has not completely deserted him.

The truth is his swing at St Andrews, as most experts agreed, was better than for some time. He looked composed, better balanced and the driving was back almost to his best.

But as so often happens in golf when one element improves another declines and Woods's putting is a long way from the precision it possessed of old.

"One of the worst putting weeks I've ever had," admitted Woods.

In many ways it epitomised the uncertainty which has enveloped his life and his career.

Yet Woods might also look back on St Andrews 2010 as something of a bridgehead.

It was his first trip to Europe since the problems in his private life became public and precipitated a fall from grace, and he received a reception from the St Andrews galleries which was respectful, bordering on affectionate.

His own demeanour was not always so warm, although he was philosophical after shooting three under par for the tournament, 13 shots behind the remarkable Oosthuizen and 16 behind his own winning margin in 2000.

"That's just the way it goes," said Woods. "I'm not going to win all of them. I've lost a lot more than I've won."

Can he win enough to overtake Nicklaus? The answer used to be a definite 'yes'. He still might, but now nothing is sure.