...as Woods slumps to 55th

TIGER WOODS had his first birdie-free round since 2014 to finish equal 55th at the Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina on Sunday, his second-worst result of the year.

Woods closed with a 74 to finish at 2-over 286, 14 strokes behind winner Jason Day.

It was only the 11th time in more than 1,000 rounds as a professional on the PGA Tour that Woods failed to record a birdie or eagle.

He again lamented poor putting but also failed to hit his approach shots close enough to the hole.

He had only one birdie chance from inside 10 feet – a fivefooter that he missed at the par-five 10th.

“I hit the ball halfway decent today ... so I wasn’t disappointed with that,” Woods told reporters.

“Again, just did not putt well and didn’t make a birdie today. I got shut out. It was just a bad week.”

The 14-times major champion said he would work on all facets of his game before the Players Championship starts in Florida on Thursday at TPC Sawgrass, where he has won twice.

“I’m very pleased with the way I’m swinging,” he said. “I need obviously to do some practising with my putter. It’s just a matter of making sure I get the right speed for those greens because (they are) going to be a little bit quicker than here.

“That’s a golf course you can’t fake it around there and you have to hit the ball well. You can’t get away with hitting it poorly.”