Tiger leaves Atlanta early a broken figure, as he looks to find a solution on how to put together the broken pieces of his game.

36 holes into what has been a fascinating 93rd PGA Championship. From Steve Stricker's brilliant opening round of 63, Rory McIlroy's injured wrist and his subsequent decision to play through the pain barrier, and the collection of unexpected names at the halfway summit, there have been many intriguing stories at this PGA. However, none more so have been generated more intrigue and questions than that of Tiger Woods' disastrous performance in Atlanta.

Tiger has produced his most humbling performance ever in a Major Championship. After a fine start on Thursday under the sweltering Atlanta sun, where he birdied 3 of his first 5 holes, Woods completely imploded. Double Bogey's on 15 and 18 (his 6th and 9th holes) set him on course to a truly humilating front nine, where he looked have completely no control on the golf ball, as he came home in a +5 total of 40. Thursday's round of 77 was the highest Tiger has ever shot in a 1st round of any Major Championship, and his highest ever in the PGA. He frustratedly stated that after his fine start:  "I figured I could let it go and play through instinct and feel, but screwed up the whole round," He went on to say "I'm not at that point yet. I started fighting it and couldn't get it back. It's very frustrating."

Tiger cut a broken figure in Atlanta

With the 36 hole Cut likely to fall at +4, Tiger would have known that a 67 was the minimum 2nd round that he required. He got closer to that number than he did on the previous day, but it was a mere 73. A 3 over round which included two double bogey's, four birdies and a further 3 birdies. But even more noteworthy than the inconsistent scores was the manner he created them. Missing fairways left and right on occasions, finding a total of 22 bunkers during his 36 holes played, and a further four water hazards, this was a Tiger with absolutely no control of his game. Many will cite his lack of match practice and his swing changes not being fully embedded, but at the moment the simple fundamentals which we all have to adhere to in order to play at our best, are not been implemented by Tiger at the moment. Thankfully for him, he has an unimaginable level of talent and was still able to pull some shots off. But at the moment, in his current state of mind and game he will not be able to progress.

Where does he go from here?

 Tiger will be heading back to Florida with an even more shattered level of confidence with the weight of a 36 hole total of +10 on his mind wondering where he goes from here. That will also be the question amongst the golf commentators, journalists and fans. Some have simply stated that Tiger is "finished", "toasted", "done", while many others are looking at a more pragmatic solution to his problems. With the regular PGA Tour season coming to a close, and Tiger not in a position to play in the FedEX Cup Playoff events beginning later this month, some have argued that Tiger should play some European Tour events to find his game and confidence. An interesting idea, but of course he won't even consider to do this. At the moment his next confirmed event is the Australian Open on November 10th-13th, and he is also exempt to play the HSBC Champions Event in Shanghai the week before. That's 2 months away from now, but will he be seen in the States before his usual new year appearance at Torrey Pines in late January? His agent Mark Steinberg said today that playing in one of the PGA Tour's 'Fall Series' events is something that they will look into. He has 41 days to enter the first of these events, the Justin Timberlake Shriners Open, so ample thinking time. Personally, I don't think the American golf fans can expect to see Woods in one of their competitions until 2012.

Davis Love III must be wondering where Tiger's game will be in 2012

 On the subject of the United States, the Presidents Cup takes place at Royal Melbourne the week after the Australian Open, which Woods is entered in. Will US Captain Fred Couples, a known friend of Tiger, give the broken 35 year old a place on his team? Couples has stated all year that he will exercise one of his Captain picks in the favour of Woods, but surely some doubt has to enter the 1992 Masters Champion's head of picking a player so evidently short of all confidence and any form. Although it may seem against sensible logic, Couples will likely keep to his word and offer Tiger a place on the team. Of course, whether Woods actually accepts that offer is another issue altogether, and would depend largely on how his game feels.

The problems for Woods are both technical and physcological. This is a man who during the last 20 months has seen his aura of invinciblity on both the golf course and personal life destroyed. Yes, largely at his own hands, but that must have left deep scars to Tigers formerly indestructible self belief. Trying to embed his latest swing changes while overcoming his injury problems has also been an unenviable task. He still hasn't found this new swing, and that is why I don't believe that Tournament play in the spotlight is the best thing for him at the moment. He came back too early from injury at the Players and he has now come back too early for his golf game at the Bridgestone and PGA, and he must surely be considering now to shut down for the rest of the year. Some may call that cowardly, and that he needs the game time to find his ability to play back again, but I believe that Tiger needs to spend the winter at home, on the range, playing fun practice rounds trying to restore the sound fundamentals in his golf game that any player needs to perform at their potential best. Now he is fully fit from injury, and Tiger did on Friday evening cite that as the one positive from this past fortnight, Woods can spend this fall and winter working on his game and preparing for a full comeback next year rather than resting injuries or overcoming a divorce. The fitness was the key question for Woods this fortnight, and it is the one thing that has passed the test, and he should, and will take heart from that fact.

Tiger needs to come out for 2012 fresh and ready to compete for Championships again. Augusta will be his target, he has almost 8 months to prepare for that. It'll be up to him on what the best strategy to achieve that will be. We have all cited our theories on what he should do, but ultimately the decision falls upon him on the best way to ready himself for the next season, as 2012 will really be the make or break year for Tiger Woods.