The pitiless march of time

Well. I guess once again Old Lodge Skins spoke the truth.

Old Lodge Skins, aka Chief Dan George's character in "Little Big Man" (if you haven't seen it, consider yourself culturally deprived), whose immortal words at the end of the film come back once again as Tiger Woods stacks a 73 on top of a 72 and misses the cut in the PGA Championships. It happens just a month after winning the Masters and giving golf its moment of the year and, probably, moment of the decade.

As Old Lodge Skins said: "Sometimes the magic works. Sometimes it doesn't."

This is especially true when you're 43 years old and have multiple back surgeries on your resume, a reality Woods himself seemed to acknowledge when he said he was "disappointed" to have missed the cut, then went back to marveling at his Masters win. A younger Tiger would have been seething; this one seems to be accepting the fact that he's no longer Young Tiger, nor ever will be.

For all the magic of those four days in April, see, time remains undefeated in these matters. Even Woods knows that. He may yet find the magic again over another four days at a major championship, but the Blob remains doubtful his pursuit of Jack Nicklaus' record 18 majors is anything but a media fantasy now. Forty-three with a bum back is still 43 with a bum back, after all. And that's especially true against a field crowded with more gifted young golfers than any time in the past four decades.

Chief among them right now is Brooks Koepka, who's done a fairly passable Young Tiger imitation across the first two days at Bethpage Black. He opened with a 63 and followed it with a 65, a 36-hole record, and stands seven strokes clear of the field at the turn. If he continues to bury everyone over the weekend, this will be his third victory in the last five majors. A Tiger-esque riff to be sure.

As for the actual Tiger, Augusta proved enough of his game is left, and still enough of his aura, to occasionally make this splendid generation of golfers bend to his will. But there are also going to be more weeks like this one.

Time ensures it. Time, the undefeated.