By Martyn Ziegler, PA Chief Sports Reporter

Tiger Woods will not forget the 12th hole at Royal Lytham & St Annes in a hurry.

His final-round encounter with the hole proved not only is Woods just flesh and blood, but that he is also capable of the sort of golf which would make a weekend hacker hang his head in shame.

Woods, five shots off the lead at the start of the final round, was always going to have to do something sensational if the 25-year-old was to have any chance of retaining his Open title.

And though three consecutive birdies at the fourth, fifth and sixth holes set the pulses racing, the world number one could not maintain his momentum.

His challenge petered out gradually after he was unfortunate to miss out on another birdie at the seventh. It finally collapsed on the par-three 12th, one of the most straightforward holes on the course.

His tee-shot over-shot the green and ended up in long grass, but his next defied disbelief as he chopped the ball out of the rough so powerfully it flew completely over the green and landed in another difficult lie at least 50 yards from the pin.

The shocked gasps from the crowd became even louder as he put his third into a bunker, chipped to within six feet of the hole and then missed a fairly simple putt. He ended with a six - a triple bogey - and though he managed to secure birdies on the 16th and 17th it meant that Royal Lytham has brought Woods back down to planet earth with a bump.

His level-par round of 71 made him one under for the tournament. and he finished in joint 25th (to be updated).

Not since 1997 and the US PGA tournament where he ended joint 29th has he done quite so badly in a major. Indeed, even as an amateur he managed 22nd at Royal Lytham the last time staged the Open in 1996.

Afterwards, Woods brushed aside any suggestion that he has been guilty of taking tournaments for granted. He said: "I understand that any Open championship is always going to be a tough test.

"I understand how tough it is because I'm out there playing and trying to deal with the emotions and the situations you have to deal with down the stretch of a major championships.

"I've been there and I know how tough it is. The game is very fickle and we try as hard as we can. I am not overly disappointed with today, or this week, because I tried as hard as I could.

"I went out there and tried my best and that's all I can do. I'm sure I will learn a lot more as I reflect on my performances this week."

Woods' famed drive has been absent for most of this Open, but at least in the final round he was hitting the ball as of old.

"I just wasn't able to swing the club well this week, my mechanics were a bit off," he added.

"Today I drove it great, on a string. The only bad drive I hit all day was at 18.

"Overall I am disappointed but not overly disappointed because I tried really hard this week."

Even the best player in the world, perhaps the best there has ever been, is going to have a bad patch, but Woods is now in real danger of losing his 'unbeatable' tag - if he has not lost it already that is.

And if Europe's Ryder Cup players need some inspiration ahead of September's showdown with the USA, they might do well to remember the inglorious 12th.