Woods back on right track
Woods had been two under par for his final round after two holes but faded to a one-over-par 73 for a two under tournament finish. And as Martin Kaymer of Germany took a share of the championship lead with overnight leader Nick Watney at 11 under after five holes, with Jason Day of Australia and Ireland’s Rory McIroy a shot behind, Woods was finishing his final round in a manner consistent with his recent inconsistency.
Rounds of 71, 70, 72 and 73 from the 14-time major winner may point to some sort of levelling out of form but each of those cards on the Lake Michigan shoreline were peppered with birdies and bogeys and his 72nd hole last night encapsulated the struggle.
Wayward off the tee on the 500-yard par-four hole named Dyeabolical in honour of designer Pete Dye, Woods conjured a great second shot out of right rough, over Seven Mile Creek and onto the green.
That was followed by a 50-foot birdie putt that he left some nine feet short before Woods holed out for par.
“Disappointed, certainly,” Woods said. “In order for it to be a great year you have to win a major championship. I won six times last year and it was a good year, yeah, but it wasn’t a great year.”
Twelve months ago, Woods had started the last round of the USPGA at Hazeltine on the brink of that 15th major, 14 months on from his last major win at the 2008 US Open.
Playing with YE Yang in the final group, having never lost a last-day lead, the question in most people’s minds was that, given a 2010 schedule that offered up Augusta National, Pebble Beach and St Andrews, Woods could be pitching up in Wisconsin looking to equal Jack Nicklaus’s 18 titles.
How quickly things change but at least Woods appears to be in a better place than the previous Sunday when he sank to his worst professional 72-hole finish of a tie for 78th at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
If that performance marked the nadir, then Woods is at the start of a long journey back to greatness, more than likely with a new swing coach in tow after Sean Foley, instructor to Hunter Mahan, Sean O’Hair and others, spent plenty of time with the world number one on the practice range.
“I asked him to take a look at my swing this week and give me some ideas of what he sees.
“As far as working down the road, I’m sure I’m going to see him a little bit more of him.
“I still want to pick his brain a little bit more. I don’t really have all of his whole concept yet but I would like to get to know him a little bit more before I fully get into it.”
World number two Phil Mickelson was another whose week ended in disappointment, albeit with what was shaping up to be a top-20 finish after closing out with a 67. Further up the leaderboard, though, everything was to play for. Watney had opened up at 13 under par, with a three-shot lead over McIlroy and Dustin Johnson, who had so notably collapsed in just two holes of the US Open final round having held a similar advantage over Graeme McDowell at Pebble Beach.
Watney, 29, followed the pattern, opening with a double-bogey six and carding a bogey at the par-four fourth. There was a birdie three at the driveable sixth but disaster returned on the par-three seventh as his tee shot pinged off the rocks into the Great Lake.
A bogey at the seventh sent Watney further out of contention as Kaymer went in the other direction, with birdies at the second, fourth and 10th holes to take a two-shot lead at 12 under with eight to play.
Steve Elkington, the 1995 champion, and former Masters winner Zach Johnson were at 10 under after 10 holes and they were joined by McIlroy, who got back to his starting position thanks to a birdie at the 10th, having gone out in 37, one over for his outward nine after two bogeys and a birdie.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
