There was no hiding the disappointment for Tiger Woods after he trudged off the final hole at the US PGA Championship on Sunday.
A final round 73 left him well out of contention and without a major title for the second year in succession.
His last victory at a major was at the 2008 US Open and he has now gone 10 majors without a win, matching his longest losing streak.
The World No 1 has not won any titles this year and admitted his failure to add to his collection of 14 major titles was worrying.
"In order for it to be a great year you have to win a major championship," he said.
"I won six times last year and it was a good year but it wasn't a great year.
"There are times when I had won major championships in a year and I consider that being a great year."
By his own admission, Woods is struggling to regain his game after taking an enforced break following the revelations about his marital infidelities.
He made an encouraging return when he finished tied for fourth at the US Masters and again at the US Open but the rest of his year has been forgetful, including missing the cut at Quail Hollow, withdrawing from the Players Championship and suffering his worst four-round result in a PGA Tour finish at Ohio last week.
His private life has remained under intense scrutiny and he has also struggled with injuries but his most visible problems have been with his game, driving erratically and putting badly.
He has sought the help of Canadian swing coach Sean Foley and while he believes he is making some early improvements he admits it remains a work in progress.
"I asked him to take a look at my swing this week and give me some ideas of what he sees," Woods said.
"I like some of the things he had to say about my golf swing and where I needed to go. I like the direction because I was able to hit the shots that I used to be able to hit feel wise.
"As far as working down the road, I'm sure I'm going to see him a little bit more. I still want to pick his brain a little bit more."
Sunday's final round at Whistling Straits was typical of the American's year. He made a bright start with birdies at each of the first two holes and two more on the front nine but spoiled them with three bogeys and a double.
"I didn't miss a shot for the first four holes. And then after that I hit it awful," he said.
"I couldn't quite get it. I was able to hit my three wood well. But I just couldn't get a feel with the driver on how to do that. I was doing it on the range pretty good but just couldn't carry it through.
"I feel like my game is a lot better than it was obviously last week, and given a little bit more time it's starting to head in the right direction now, which is good."
