The 2009 British Open was held at Turnberry. Tiger Woods missed the 36-hole cut and acted as a fool in the process. The club throwing, profanities and self-pitying poses went from isolated to constant.

These antics were so far beyond what we had witnessed from Woods in the past that I wrote a Star Tribune column on the subject. It included an interview with Reed Mackenzie, former USGA president and a referee for Woods' matches as far back as the 1993 U.S. Junior Amateur.

Mackenzie talked of his admiration for Woods as a competitor and as a representative of the game, and agreed that Tiger's behavior at Turnberry went over the line.

One passage from that column read: "He's 33 and the father of two. Aren't 33-year-old family men supposed to be more mature than they were as 17-year-old in pursuit of a third Junior Amateur?"

As it turns out, there was an assumption in that column from last July -- the family man angle -- that might have explained Tiger's craziness during those two futile rounds in Scotland.

Looking back in the light of mangled mailboxes and SUVs, of hostesses, waitresses and porn stars, of therapy and curt apologies, the opinion here is that his display at Turnberry was the first public sign that Woods knew the lies were surrounding him and that his magnificent image was on the eve of destruction.

When you're driven to control every situation, every sentence of information, as was Woods, and you know the National Enquirer is on the trail of an endless supply of mistresses ... well, you can see why a guy might be extra-agitated with bad shots.

It would be a few more months before the tabloid was ready to reveal Rachel Uchitel as mistress No. 1, but we would learn eventually that the Enquirer had been on the hunt for Tiger's babes for a couple of years.

A month after Turnberry, we saw a more composed Woods at Hazeltine for the PGA Championship. We also saw him lose for the first time in a major after holding a lead after 54 holes -- and lose to the unlikely Y.E. Yang by three shots.

The crash at the end of the driveway came three months later, and the crash of his image quickly followed.

We have seen Woods in six events in 2010. He missed the cut at Quail Hollow and quit in the midst of a fourth-round meltdown at The Players. He finished in a tie for 19th at the Memorial, a tournament he had won four times. He finished 46th last week in the AT&T, a tournament that he helped launch.

Woods has been a contender twice: fourth-place ties in the Masters, his season debut, and in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

We did not come close to seeing vintage Tiger. The course set-up at the Masters was shockingly easy and Woods failed to take full advantage. Last month at Pebble Beach (and a decade after a 15-stroke victory there), he gave away a fourth U.S. Open victory with a 75 on Sunday.

Woods has been standing at 14 majors since the 2008 U.S. Open. Jack Nicklaus holds the record of 18 and early in 2010 called this a "big year" in Tiger's pursuit of the crown.

That's because the major schedule included Augusta National (of course), Pebble Beach and St. Andrews, sites of seven of Woods' 14 major victories. He's 0-for-2 on those tracks heading into this week's Open Championship at St. Andrews.

Tiger has won the past two Opens there, by a record eight shots in 2000 and by five in 2005. Padraig Harrington, winner of the British in 2007 and 2008, told reporters:

"He's the No. 1 player at getting the ball to finish closest to where it lands out there, and St. Andrews requires that so much because of the firmness. I would think St. Andrews sets up well for him. He's capable of winning without hitting his very best form.

"I wouldn't write him off, that's for sure."

No one should. A year after he made a fool of himself at Turnberry, the only image left for Woods to protect is as a golfer, and this is the week where he gets back to winning.

Patrick Reusse can be heard noon-4 weekdays on AM-1500 KSTP. • preusse@startribune.com