Tiger’s roar silenced by late woes in putting
DUBLIN, Ohio – Tiger Woods is close.
Now, he just needs to figure out how to close.
For the second consecutive day in the Memorial Tournament, Woods left the scoring area dejected and angry after failing to finish off what otherwise had been superb efforts in Jack Nicklaus’ annual bash at Muirfield Village.
Because of a balky putter, he turned a 62 or 63 into a 67 in Friday’s second round. In Saturday’s third round, he turned a 63 or a 64 into a 68, again, because his putter wasn’t cooperating.
Instead of being right there near or even at the top of the leaderboard, Woods left the course in a tie for eighth at 9 under and four shots off the lead when he finished play. He can still win his 80th PGA Tour title on Sunday and win for the first time since 2013, but the last few holes the past two days have him steaming.
“I know I shot 68 today but, again, that’s probably the highest score I could have possibly shot today,” said Woods, a winner here a record five times. “I played really, really well. I played beautifully, actually. Had total control of what I was doing out there and just didn’t finish it off.”
Asked after his round if he was ready to win, Tiger got testy.
“Well, I was at 11-under par, and I had wasted a bunch of shots the last two days and I was 4-over par in the first round, so you do the math,” he said.
His numbers are off the charts when it comes to his play from tee to green. Throughout the last 36 holes, Woods mastered this Nicklaus design, working the ball both ways, hitting the ball a long ways, and knocking down flagsticks with scary-good iron play. In the third round, he hit 12 of 14 fairways in regulation and 15 of 18 greens. But then he had to putt. “I am definitely not taking advantage of how well I’m hitting it,” Woods said. “I hit the ball well enough to, shooting in the low 60s could have been pretty easy if I had just had putted normally.”
Instead, he finished his second round putting terribly. After grabbing a share of the lead with a birdie from 14 feet on the 15th, he three-putted from 45 feet on the 16th, missing his par putt from nine feet, and three-putted the final hole from 31 feet, missing a fourfooter for par.
He also missed a four-footer for birdie on the 14th.
And for the second consecutive day, Woods went to the putting green after the round and spent an hour working on his stroke.
“The scary thing is, as well as he’s hitting the ball, he’s not putting well. And Tiger knows how to putt, so when he starts putting well, it’s going to be really fun to watch all those low scores coming from him,” said Patrick Reed, who played with Woods in the third round. “He’s close.”
Hank Haney, who coached Woods from 2004-09, agreed. Haney took to Twitter Saturday and sounded a warning shot, writing that if Woods were to win the Memorial despite taking three penalty drops, three-putting twice and missing other putts inside 5 feet, “then look out for the rest of the year because he will tear it up once he tightens things down a little more.”
Despite playing in just his ninth Tour event since having spinal fusion surgery last April and having not played for two years, frustration is starting to mount up for Woods. Yes, he’s talked about his need to remain patient, that he still needs a bit more time to figure out how to play with his fused back.