Tiger finishes 4-under at Deutsche Bank Championship
Tiger Woods never mustered a charge Monday in the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston in Norton, Mass. He closed with a 2-over-par 73 and tied for 65th at 4-under 280 in the second of four FedExCup Playoffs events.
Coming into the tournament, Woods was the FedExCup points leader. However, he dropped to No. 2 behind Deustche Bank champion Henrik Stenson, who finished at 22-under 262.
“Wasn’t my week,” Woods said. “Didn’t play well and didn’t make anything, so consequently I wasn’t close to the lead.”
Tiger carded four bogeys and only two birdies on the soggy day. Play was suspended for nearly two hours due to thunderstorms.
As was the case Sunday, Woods never got comfortable on the greens. After using 31 putts in the third round, he needed 32 on Monday. The longest putt he made was a four-footer for par at No. 18.
“I just didn’t have a feel for my line,” Woods said.
Tiger hit 9 of 14 fairways and 11 of 18 greens in regulation.
An early back-nine starter with Richard H. Lee and Ryan Moore, Woods started well, sticking his approach shot at the par-4 10th hole to two-and-a-half feet and made the birdie putt.
But Tiger bogeyed the par-4 12th, 14th and 15th holes to make the turn in 2-over 37.
After parring the first hole, Woods two-putted for a birdie from 53 feet at the par-5 second. But he failed to capitalize on several good birdie opportunities the last seven holes, making six straight pars. Tiger completed his round with a bogey at the par-4 ninth.
Although Woods slipped to second in the FedExCup points standings, he is still in good position to win the title for a third time. The top 70 players have this week off, then they advance to the third Playoffs event the following week at Conway Farms Golf Club near Chicago.
From there, the top 30 on the points list qualify for the TOUR Championship, Sept. 19-22 at East Lake Golf Course in Atlanta, where the overall winner earns $10 million. If any of the top five players on the points list win the TOUR Championship, they are guaranteed of securing the FedExCup title.
“We’re just trying to play for position going to East Lake,” Woods said. “What’s important is obviously after Chicago, that I’m in the top five, hopefully first, so I have the best chance to win the cup.”
