Going into this week, the smart money would have been on Tiger Woods to win the 89th PGA Championship at Southern Hills. This was the case given Woods’ historic career, 12 major wins, and having come off of his 58th PGA Tour win at Firestone by simply embarrassing the field.

Then the cynics and writers (wait, I’m both of those) weighed in on their picks for the week (I didn’t do that). In an effort to be the guy that called the fourth first time major winner this season, it seemed like a lot of experts were predicting that Luke Donald, Hunter Mahan, Justin Rose, or other assorted majorless players would win.

Many acknowledged that Woods would normally be the guy to beat, but since he had such a “poor record” at Southern Hills in his two majors there – 1996 and 2001 US Opens – it would be unlikely that the course would suit his eye this time. Jim Nantz, though, stood up for Woods in a press conference previewing CBS’ coverage of the tournament. He claimed that Woods was already four clear of the field before the action even began. Since Nantz was seemingly the only guy certain of a Tiger Woods victory, let’s just say that the field made up two shots over 72 holes in Woods’ route to his thirteenth major championship.

Woods stayed within the lines of the coloring book that is his major victories. The picture is one many golf fans have seen expertly filled in a baker’s dozen number of times. Woods has a modest first round that does not put him in the lead, but positions him well. The second round usually is where Woods makes his most significant move – vaulting from somewhere in the top quarter of the pack to somewhere in the top ten. Then, on Saturday, Woods shoots a round good enough to maintain or take a modest lead. Sunday then turns into a championship parade in which Woods simply has to fire a round of even par to win the title.

The script is never exactly the same, but for some reason, this one did not seem as thrilling as the other twelve. Yes, Ernie Els and Woody Austin made it interesting for a while. Tiger even made the outcome a little uncertain with a back nine bogey.

Even still, it never appeared as though Tiger ever lost control. As much as I hate to say it, I was a little bored on Sunday.

I know I should not have felt bored watching Woods’ performance on Sunday. I was on the edge of my seat for his 62.5 which vaulted him to the lead.

When the rout appeared to be on during the third round, I was interested to see how much Tiger would spank the field. Sunday, though, was just not all that fun for me. It had nothing to do with Tiger. He played spectacular, leader golf with standard iron play and a few eye opening drives. The problem is that I have seen it all before from Tiger.

After it was all over and I realized what I was feeling, I began to appreciate the results of a poll conducted a few years back by, if I recall correctly, Sports Illustrated. The standout question of the survey of PGA Tour players was who was most often identified as the Tour’s most underrated player. It was Tiger Woods. Most underrated. Even the people that are around Woods most often feel that he is not fully appreciated.

It is amazing that a guy with this once-in-our-lifetime talent can be underwhelming in winning golf tournaments. Watching him play is still as awe-inspiring as ever, but the final result can be a little dull sometimes. Maybe it is because I have grown so accustomed to how he wins that I am not as shocked now when he embarrasses a field just because, dominates an event from start to finish, or wins a major championship. No one else can seem to do any of those things with any kind of consistency, but Woods does is so often that it feels like a common occurrence.

The other three major winners this year managed to barely hang on to win their trophies. Woods had no problem coasting to his. Even with the historic significance of this win, I would still have preferred to watch a replay of the Open Championship. Golf tournaments are more interesting when the outcome is in doubt. With Woods, that is rarely the case.

The talent he possesses is so special that he can make an incredibly difficult feat appear mundane and boring. As it stands now, Woods is six major championship wins away from officially becoming the greatest golfer in history. It seems almost inevitable that he will get there with the mechanical way he won on Sunday. Out of the nearly thirty on course hours this week, Woods had to work especially hard for five of them to secure his championship. That is efficiency at its finest coming from a guy who is very well aware of how great he is.

Efficiency is amazing, but it is not necessarily exciting. These kinds of ho-hum major championship wins will not be fully appreciated until long after Woods wins number nineteen. After all, it is hard to place a value on something you have never seen before and will never see again.