By Jason SobelSure, it was written in 1858, two years before golf's first modern major was held, but we can't help but think Charles Dickens may have been formulating a little prose about Tiger Woods' current season on the PGA Tour in his classic "A Tale of Two Cities."
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
For Woods, this year has been a tale of 20 cities, with triumphs at places like Augusta and St. Andrews certainly wiping out failures in Dallas and, most recently, Orlando -- missteps previously thought to be near-preposterous for a player of such caliber.
Making the cut in 18 of 20 events, winning two major titles, claiming four other tour victories and earning almost $10 million (with one event still to play) would qualify as "the best of times" for any golfer -- even the world's top-ranked player, who holds himself to higher standards than anyone else around.
So where does "the worst of times" fit into that equation? When Woods missed the cut at the Byron Nelson Championship in May, it was the first time he had failed to reach the weekend in a tour event since 1998, breaking a streak of 142 consecutive successes.
"It's never a relief when you miss a cut," he said at the time. "I've missed two of them so far in my career, and neither of them felt very good. It's disappointing, because you're here for four rounds to try to compete and win a tournament. And now I don't get that opportunity."
After failing to make the cut for the third time of his career at this week's Funai Classic at Disney -- the term "reach the weekend" isn't technically true, as Tiger finished the final two holes of his second round on Saturday morning after weather ended the previous day's play early -- Woods admitted that is current disappointment was tempered after losing the streak already this year.
"[Missing the cut at the Nelson] was probably more disappointing, because I bogeyed the last hole and I had the cut in hand," Woods said. "[At Disney] I had to birdie the last two holes."
It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.
Woods' brilliance has been abundantly apparent throughout this season, with such memorable shots as the holed-out wedge shot on the 16th hole in the final round of The Masters and that 300-plus-yard 3-wood on Sunday at Doral that led to eagle and an eventual victory over rival Phil Mickelson.
But there are plenty of shots he'd like to forget, too.
After firing a bogey-free 4-under 68 during the opening round Thursday, perhaps Tiger effused a bit of foolishness in his second round, countering his six birdies with a triple-bogey, double-bogey and two bogeys for a 73 that left him three shots short of the cut.
"I did not play well at all," Woods said. "I had a two-way miss this week. You can't aim a two-way miss even if those fairways are 300 yards wide. If you get it hitting both ways, it's tough to play."
It was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity.
A fun aspect to the Funai Classic is that players are allowed to choose their partners, rather than the random computer-produced pairings that occur at most other tour events.
As such, Woods was paired during both rounds with ex-Stanford teammate Notah Begay, a four-time winner whose game has suffered in recent years because of lingering back injuries. How bad has it gotten? Begay had made the cut in only three of nine PGA Tour events and one of four on the Nationwide Tour entering the week, earning just $27,287 for his troubles.
And yet, there was Begay, beating his buddy by three strokes in each of the first two rounds to put himself into contention on the weekend.
Perhaps the answer to Tiger's most recent struggles lies somewhere within this equation: Woods lives in Windemere, Fla., just 10 minutes from the site of this week's tournament. With wife Elin away visiting her sister, it was a "boys' weekend," as Woods' described it. Begay, college friend Jerry Chang and Bryon Bell, another pal who acted as replacement caddie for Steve Williams, crashed at the Woods' pad for an extended stay.
It was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness.
In the most ironic of ironies, Tiger actually clinched the PGA Tour money title on the same day he earned absolutely nothing. When No. 2 man Vijay Singh also missed the cut, it meant that the tour's all-time earnings leader will top the list for the sixth time in his career, but for the first time since 2002.
It was, quite obviously, a bittersweet victory.
"I don't know if [the money title] means a lot to me or winning," Woods said. "I have more wins than anybody else, and I have won more majors than anybody else in the same year. It's a very good year."
In short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
Perhaps Dickens had it right. Perhaps this period -- the PGA Tour season -- will simply be known as a Tale of Two Tigers.
Jason Sobel is ESPN.com's golf editor. He can be reached at Jason.Sobel@espn3.com
