Tiger's fall began at the 2009 PGA Championship

"Oh, nice uppercut by Buster Douglas. Look at that! He's knocked Mike Tyson down, for the first time ... in his career. He's in big trouble."

- "Colonel" Bob Sheridan's call of Tyson vs. Douglas, Round 10

Like Mike Tyson in the boxing ring before Feb. 11, 1990, Tiger Woods was once thought to be indestructible, in golf and in life.

Woods was considered the perfect athlete. His 14-0 record at major championships when holding a 54-hole lead was a prime example of his superiority to his competitors. Phil Mickelson, David Duval, Sergio Garcia and lesser names like Chris DiMarco and Bob May all tried to bring him down, and all of them failed.

That changed in August 2009, when Y.E. Yang - then a winner of just one PGA Tour event - went face to face with Woods and slayed the giant. It was the beginning of Tiger's fall from greatness and grace.

Before revisiting that Sunday showdown at Hazeltine, let's jump back one week earlier to the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and Woods' controversial final-round comeback against Padraig Harrington.

Aug. 9, 2009 - Akron, Ohio

Harrington held a one-shot lead on the par-5 16th tee, but both he and Woods were put on the clock for slow play by European Tour chief referee John Paramor. The Irishman made a triple-bogey eight, while Tiger hit the shot of the week.

"I thought they would have used better judgment," Woods told Bob Harig of ESPN after the round.

Pre-PGA Championship

Entering the PGA Championship, there was more talk about the slow-play decision than about Woods' win or his chances of a 15th major title.

"We were the only two that were in contention to win the event, we had separated ourselves," Woods told the media at his pre-tournament press conference.

Tiger was so confident in his game leading into the championship that he took Wednesday off from practicing.

PGA Championship Rounds 1-3

Tiger's decision to skip Wednesday initially looked wise. He posted a 5-under-par 67, then added a 70 on Friday in windy, difficult conditions - creating a four-shot lead.

Woods' first mistake occurred Saturday, when he was far too conservative with his approach shots, preferring the safe position in the middle of green. Meanwhile, the field narrowed the gap from four shots to two shots. Yang posted a 5-under-par 67 and got into the final pairing with Woods, yet to many, the final round felt like a foregone conclusion.

But by Sunday evening, the lead, the record, and his bulletproof image were all gone.

Final round

Tiger's putter went cold Sunday and he fell back into a tie with Yang until the 14th hole, when the South Korean grabbed the lead with a chip-in eagle.

When the two arrived at the 18th hole, Yang still led by one shot, but faced an impossible second into the par-4 18th. He answered by executing a shot that was like a knockout uppercut to Woods' aura of invincibility.

"You have to make putts, and I didn't do that," said Woods. "All of the other 14 major championships that I've won, I've putted well for the entire week, and today was a day that it didn't happen."

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

The day after the surprising loss, there were questions about whether Woods had fully healed from the knee surgery he underwent after the 2008 U.S. Open. Most believed he would come back healthier and better in the 2010 majors, with St. Andrews and Pebble Beach in the rotation. That return to dominance never happened.

Three months later, the entire Woods empire was brought down by the infamous car crash, but the first warning sign became visible that August afternoon in Chaska, Minn.