Tiger ends disappointing Masters with 2-over 74

Tiger Woods closed out the 76th Masters Tournament on Sunday by shooting a 2-over-par 74 at sun-drenched Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga. He finished with a 72-hole score of 5-over 293 and tied for 40th.

Bubba Watson and Louis Oosthuizen completed regulation play at 10-under. Watson won the green jacket with a par on the second hole of sudden death.

A four-time winner at Augusta, Woods never got untracked with his game, especially on the par 5s. He made only two birdies in 16 opportunities and played them in a combined 1-under for the week.

“It was very difficult,” said Woods. “I played the par 5s atrociously. This is a golf course you just have to dominate the par 5s, and I did not do that at all this week.”

On Sunday, Woods made three birdies and five bogeys. This despite another good start that saw him play the first four holes in 1-under before backing up.

After parring the first hole, Tiger, paired with Vijay Singh, birdied the par-5 second for the first time all week.

Woods had birdied the par-4 third hole three straight times entering the final round, but he settled for par there Sunday. He added another par at the difficult par-3 fourth.

Woods made his first bogey of the round at the 455-yard, par-4 fifth. He followed with two pars, then dropped another shot at the 570-yard, par-5 eighth hole. A par at the par-4 ninth left him at 1-over on the side.

Tiger didn’t get the start he wanted on the back nine, carding a bogey at the 495-yard, par-4 10th hole. After parring the challenging par-4 11th hole, he birdied the short — but always dangerous — 155-yard, par-3 12th hole.

Once again, Woods was unable to take advantage of the short par-5 13th, settling for a par. He then parred 14 and 15. Tiger bogeyed the 170-yard, par-3 16th and 440-yard, par-4 17th holes, but finished strong with a nice 15-foot downhill birdie putt at the 465-yard, par-4 18th.

Woods had good starts all four days, going 1-under through four holes on the first day; 2-under through four holes on the second day; 2-under through three holes on the third day; and 1-under through six holes on the fourth day. However, he couldn’t sustain it.

On the back nine, Tiger shot 37, 36, 38 and 37.

All told, Woods made only 10 birdies and 15 bogeys.

“I just didn’t give myself enough looks,” he said.

For the week, Tiger hit 40 of 72 greens (55.6 percent) and 32 of 56 fairways (57.1 percent) in regulation. He was four of 10 in sand saves (40 percent) and had 114 putts for an average of 1.58, three-putting twice.

Woods said he will continue to practice hard and prepare for his next event.

“You’re not going to play well every week,” said Woods. “I had the wrong ball-striking week at the wrong time.”