Woods unable to lead Sunday charge at PGA
It was a long, mostly frustrating day for Tiger Woods on Sunday in the 94th PGA Championship at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Resort in Kiawah Island, S.C. Not only did he rise before dawn to complete his third round, he never got untracked in the final round.
Woods played 11 holes to finish his third round and shot a 2-over-par 74, touring the back nine in 2-under 34. That left him tied for sixth at 2-under 214, five strokes behind leader Rory McIlroy.
“I was very encouraged the way I dug down deep and got this thing turned around and gave myself a chance going into the afternoon,” Woods said.
Hoping to mount a comeback for his 15th major title, Tiger had early chances to make a move in the final round, but his putter failed to cooperate. He closed with a 72 to tie for 11th at 2-under 286, 11 strokes behind McIlroy.
Woods said the first eight holes on Saturday ruined his chances.
“I came out with probably the wrong attitude,” he said. “I was too relaxed, and tried to enjoy it, and that’s not how I play. I play intense and full systems go. That cost me.”
Why the easy-going attitude?
“I don’t know,” said Woods, a four-time PGA champion. “It was a bad move on my part.”
Tiger tipped his cap to the 23-year-old McIlroy, who won his second major championship.
“He’s got all the talent in the world to do what he’s doing,” Woods said. “And this is the way that Rory can play. When he gets it going, it’s pretty impressive to watch.”
When 26 players resumed third-round play at 7:45 a.m. ET on Sunday, Woods had a six-foot putt to save par on the par-3 eighth hole. Prior to the round, he spent considerable time on the practice green putting in darkness, but it didn’t help; the ball lipped out.
Woods then made a nice up-and-down at the par-4 ninth to make the turn in 40.
After another good par save at No. 10, Tiger birdied the par-5 11th, sinking an eight-foot putt. He nearly made a 35-foot birdie putt at the par-4 12th, the ball coming up a foot short of the cup, then cashed in at the difficult, 455-yard, par-4 13th, knocking a 6-iron from 190 yards within five feet and making the birdie putt.
Following a two-putt par at No. 14, Woods blocked his tee shot way right at the par-4 15th and had 141 yards to the pin from a sandy waste area. Although he couldn’t see the flag, the ball covered it, stopping 20 feet past, and again, his birdie putt finished one foot short of the hole. After hitting his second shot, Tiger limped badly on his right leg. When he walked back to the fairway, both legs picked up prickly pear burrs, which he quickly removed.
“It got in both legs,” said Woods. “It itched like hell for about a hole, and then it was gone.”
Tiger kept grinding and recorded another birdie at the 571-yard, par-5 16th, reaching the green in two with a 5-iron and two-putting from 25 feet. At the demanding, 219-yard, par-3 17th, he hit a 6-iron into the front-left bunker — called sandy areas, allowing players to ground their club and take practice swings — and blasted 15 feet past the cup, where he wasn’t able to convert.
Woods hit two quality shots at the par-4 18th hole, but missed an 18-foot birdie putt.
After a short break, Tiger started the final round with Vijay Singh and Peter Hanson. Knowing he needed a fast start to challenge the leaders, Woods hit a nice approach at the par-4 first hole just inside 10 feet but didn’t convert.
At the 565-yard, par-5 second, Tiger hit a nice drive and reached the green in two with a 5-wood, the ball stopping 20 feet right of the hole. His eagle putt looked good, but somehow skirted the right edge of the cup and wound up behind the hole. Woods tapped in for birdie.
Tiger made a great save at the short par-4 third, where he missed the green from 99 yards, the ball rolling over the back of the green into a downhill lie. Faced with a steep uphill chip and no green to work with, Woods knocked his third shot 15 feet past the cup but made the clutch right-to-left putt to save par.
Tiger came tantalizingly close to making birdie at the 456-yard, par-4 fourth, a hole he had bogeyed twice. After a good drive, he hit a 6-iron from 187 yards 18 feet below the cup and left his birdie putt one roll short of the hole.
Woods two-putted the par-3 fifth hole from 18 feet, then gave himself another great birdie chance at the par-4 sixth, but missed an eight-foot putt. But he hung tough by holing a 13-foot birdie putt at the par-5 seventh to keep his slim chances alive.
Tiger made two fabulous up-and-down saves for par at Nos. 8 and 9 to make the turn in 2-under 34, but still trailed McIlroy by six strokes.
Woods continued to battle at the 10th hole, saving par from a right greenside bunker. With no choice but to play aggressively, he crushed a long drive at the 11th and went for the green in two. Tiger pulled the shot badly to the left and wound up in sand dunes, then came up short of the green with his third shot and couldn’t save par.
Once again, he kept fighting. Woods hit a beautiful approach shot at the 12th hole five feet above the cup but was unable to capitalize.
Tiger two-putted the next three holes for pars, then bogeyed the 16th. He closed with pars at Nos. 17 and 18, just missing a 14-foot birdie attempt at the latter.
“I putted really well today,” Woods said. “Had the speed good. Unfortunately, I just didn’t give myself enough good looks.”
Woods challenged at three of the four majors this year, tying for 40th at the Masers, tying for 21st at the Open Championship, and tying for third at the U.S. Open.
“The thing is, to keep putting myself there,” Woods said. “I’m not going to win them all, and I haven’t won them all. So I certainly have lost more than I have won. But the key is putting myself there each and every time, and you know, I’ll start getting them again.”
Woods, the only three-time winner on the PGA Tour this year, has a busy upcoming schedule, starting with the FedExCup Playoffs.
“We’ve got a lot of golf left to be played the rest of the year, some big events coming up and The Ryder Cup at the end of it,” he said. “So looking forward to that.”
