Tiger comes up two shots short of Rock in Abu Dhabi
Tiger Woods closed with an even-par 72 on Sunday and tied for third in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship at Abu Dhabi Golf Club in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. He finished with a 72-hole score of 11-under 277, two strokes behind winner Robert Rock of England.
Making his first start of 2012, Woods has now competed in 104 European Tour events and has posted 37 victories and 79 top 10 finishes.
Paired with Rock and Peter Hanson of Sweden, Woods parred the first hole, then birdied the par-5 second, sinking a 45-foot putt. He added another birdie at the 429-yard, par-4 third hole, nestling his second shot three feet from the cup.
Woods bogeyed the par-4 fourth hole, missing the green with his approach shot and was unable to convert a 15-foot par putt. Tiger also bogeyed the par-4 fifth, missing the green with his second shot and two-putting from 25 feet.
Following a nice up-and-down par save at the par-3 sixth, Woods flew the green at the par-3 seventh. He hit a nice chip four feet from the cup and made the putt to save par. Woods drove into the right fairway bunker at the par-4 eighth, then blasted his second shot over the green. From there, he chipped to two feet and saved par.
Looking to generate some positive momentum, Woods hit a good drive at the par-4 ninth hole, and hit a nice approach shot eight feet from the hole. He knocked in the birdie putt to make the turn in 1-under 35.
Woods dropped a shot at the par-5 10th. He hit his third shot in the front bunker, blasted 15 feet beyond the cup and two-putted for a bogey.
At the 417-yard, par-4 11th, Woods found the fairway, then hit a poor approach shot from 155 yards right of the green in thick rough. With little green to work with, he did well to gouge his third shot 18 feet past the hole and rolled in the par putt, pumping his right fist.
Woods two-putted the par-3 12th hole for a par, then made a nice up-and-down par save at the par-4 13th. He made another scrambling par at the par-4 14th, where he drove into the right fairway bunker and hit his second shot into the left greenside bunker. Woods blasted to three feet and sunk the par putt.
At the 167-yard, par-3 15th, Woods hit his tee shot 35 feet past the hole and two-putted for a par. He hit poor drives in the rough at the par-4 16th and 17th holes, but managed to escape with long two-putt pars.
Woods closed with a par at the par-5 18th hole.
Woods will return to competition Feb. 9-12, when he makes his 2012 PGA Tour debut in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
