Tiger Woods is the true master of suspense

Need a story line to captivate and mesmerize? Get Tiger.

Want the story to have drama, action and a mystical hero? Get Tiger.

Want a guarantee that the buildup won't get to a peak and suddenly fall flat? Get Tiger and put a putter in his hands.

On the 72nd hole of the United States Open on Sunday, Tiger Woods did what he almost always does. He came through in the clutch. He gave us goose bumps. He made us wonder how anybody can succeed so often at such a high level in such an imperfect game.

We don't applaud him now as much as we shake our heads in amazement. We think he is flesh and bones like we are, but we are becoming less and less certain.

The game he plays is not one of those dominated by God-given size or speed or strength. It ebbs and flows with wind and heat and fat and skinny grass. Tuned bodies are fine but only if they work in unison with tuned minds.

At 5:52 p.m., West Coast time, Woods stood over a 12-foot putt on No. 18 at Torrey Pines. It was a situation that would have rendered mere mortals jelly-legged and useless. So much was at stake -- money, prestige, golfing immortality. So much had happened, certainly enough to rationalize a miss and nod satisfaction for a good effort.

Good efforts don't register with Woods. Only winning.

When he stood over the putt, he knew that making it would get him a spot in today's 18-hole playoff with Rocco Mediate. He also knew that, if he missed, his courage for getting that close on a left knee still not healed from recent surgery would be universally applauded. More so, he knew that if he made the putt, he'd have to walk another 18 holes.

This is not just another star golfer in his prime. If he wins today, he will move to within four of Jack Nicklaus' record 18 major tournament victories. At age 32.

This is a driven athlete with a flair for the dramatic and the instincts to perform and entertain while succeeding.

Still, there was no way he could top the theater of his Saturday round. That was a day when he made two eagles, including a long putt on the 18th hole that gave him the lead going into Sunday, and also chipped one in on the second bounce from an impossible side-hill lie in the rough.

Surely, the golf gods had given him enough. Surely, he couldn't keep turning up four-leaf clovers on the fairways of Torrey Pines on Sunday.