With the left-handed stroke of a broom putter in sudden death Friday, Tiger Woods’ pursuit of Byron Nelson’s PGA record streak was denied.

That was unfortunate for Woods. And for golf. And for the EDS Byron Nelson Championship.

Woods, who had not lost anything PGA Tour-related since winning the British Open last July, saw his tournament streak of seven wins end in sudden death against Nick O’Hern in the Accenture Match Play Championship.

Woods could have kept the streak alive for another round by making a four-foot putt on the first playoff hole.

He missed. He is, in fact, human.

Then Woods played a poor second hole, and O’Hern rolled in about a 12-foot par putt, and the greatest streak since Nelson’s 11 straight wins in 1945 was all over.

It’s really not such a bad thing for Woods. He can play where he wants to play now, focus on what he does best, which is winning majors.

But it was a great story line for golf as long as Woods managed to keep the streak alive.

Seven in a row?

Jim Furyk might be the second-best golfer in the world, and he has won seven times in seven years.

Even in defeat, Woods raises his superstar status.

Think about it. He’s disappointed not to win eight tournaments in a row.

But the mileage that the Nelson tournament would have gained out of Woods continuing the quest is gone. There’s no assurance that Woods will even come to Las Colinas for the first Nelson played following the death of the man the tournament honors.

Had Woods maintained his streak and won the Match Play title, he likely would have played two tournaments in Florida that he has won before making the Masters his next stop.

He could have tied Nelson’s record at Augusta. He could have gone for the record right here on Nelson’s course.

There wouldn’t have been a better way to celebrate the life of Byron Nelson than to have the game’s greatest player challenging Nelson’s record which, frankly, just might never be broken.

The early part of Woods’ round Friday was the kind of thing we see out of him maybe once a year. One wild right drive after another left him hitting from behind a cactus, from behind a bush, from inside of a bush.

During the course of this staggering streak, it has been impossible to overstate what Woods was accomplishing, at least in sporting terms.

It’s certainly easy to understate them, though, as the Golf Channel’s Kelly Tilghman did during Woods’ Thursday pounding of Tim Clark.

“Tiger’s in a pretty good place in life right now,” Tilghman informed us.

Really? You think?

Couple hundred million in the bank? Greatest golf swing on the planet? The Swedish blonde heating up the meat loaf at home?

Do most men honestly consider that “a pretty good place to be?”

Who knew?