By the time his first round finally ended at Augusta National Golf Club on Friday, Tiger Woods had hit three bunkers, plenty of rough, one creek from a green and a tree only 20 feet in front of him.

Everything, it seemed, except his stride.

Anytime he hasn't done that by Saturday at a golf tournament, it's going to be noticeable. When it's the weekend at the Masters and Woods is still searching for something to be encouraged about, it's borderline alarming.

He couldn't have seen a whole lot of hope in the 74 he completed Friday morning, especially after wasting what seemed to be the first good break he had gotten this week.

Woods might have been the most fortunate player in the field when play was called Thursday because, from the start, it was looking like one of those days for him, the kind that happen in golf when good shots turn bad and bad shots become awful.

He had a putt on one of Augusta's wet greens get a whole lot wetter when it reached the hole and kept going, right into the water hazard on No. 13.

He also had an approach shot that almost went in the hole end up in a bunker when it ricocheted off the flagstick.

So when darkness stopped play with Woods seven holes from finishing his round, he probably should have run to the clubhouse. And everybody else should have figured he'd return with a run Friday morning, completing his round with better luck, better disposition and a better position in the field.

But a second abbreviated day ended with Woods still over par and farther from the lead. The one hole he got to play in the second round - a par - left him at 2-over and with as little momentum as the tournament itself.

Of course, that hardly eliminates his chances. He was seven shots back after nine holes at Augusta in 1997 and won that year by 12.

However, the longer he stays in the middle of the field, playing like just another guy, the more Woods seems to be running out of time to become Tiger again.

This week was shaping up to be as much an opportunity as a challenge for Woods. Sure, there was a Masters to win. But there was also a position to reclaim.

Having gotten closer to his past form than at any time in the last few years and having beaten Phil Mickelson head-up a month ago, Woods was also close to getting back the psychological edge he once had on everyone he played.

Had he blistered Augusta National again while lapping the world's best players, they might have started to think he was moving back to that different level.

But now, each plodding step Woods takes - in this tournament and in the restructuring of his game, which has taken more than two years - might help them believe that he won't make another leap to the front of golf.

Maybe that's only wishful thinking for anyone who has seen how good Woods can be. But optimism is more than they had a while back against Woods. And it's more than he has had for another Masters title during two days when he and the tournament have moved a lot slower than expected.

Reach Tim Guidera at (912) 652-0352.

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