Tiger Woods Lost to Tim Clark In Accenture Golf Match

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Tiger Woods lost.Unbelievable. Those are three words you almost never hear about Tiger Woods.But Tim Clark shot 6-under through 16 holes, Tiger didn't strike his irons well and he lost.

It's not a crushing blow for Woods' return, obviously, but it does quickly remind us that he is indeed human. And it takes a little excitement out of the remaining matches in the tournament.

But that shouldn't be surprising: Tiger Woods means more to golf than any other individual athlete means to their respective sport.

It was odd, though to hear Tiger tell Kelly Tilghman that he "hit the ball well," because, frankly, he didn't. He didn't play that poorly, and his driver was decent, but you could tell there was plenty of rust covering his game, particularly with his irons.

And that was a large part of the difference against an opponent like Clark, who found fairways and greens, made birdies, and, as Tiger pointed out, "grinded" his way to a win.

Tiger wants to make sure he's in peak physical condition for the Masters, when he'll really need to deal with four straight days of intense physical and mental strain.