PARTIAL CREDIT
Woods finds positives despite putrid putting
An odd week for Tiger Woods ended quietly with Sunday’s Northern Trust final round.
Woods, who entered the week at Ridgewood Country Club fresh off his runner-up finish at the PGA Championship despite having massive trouble hitting fairways, drove the ball well all week and yet finished a pedestrian 4-under, 14 shots behind winner Bryson DeChambeau in a tie for 40th.
Woods, who hit 38-of-56 fairways on the tight Ridgewood layout, managed to make just nine birdies in four days on a soft golf course that was yielding birdies in bunches.
The week represented a microcosm of Woods’ season, one in which he has been unable to be sharp in all aspects of his game for 72 holes and put it all together for his first win since 2013.
“Well, welcome to golf,’’ Woods said Sunday. “I’m sure you guys are used to seeing me win five times a year or more. It’s not that easy to win out here. What you’re seeing is that I’m close and just one shot here, one shot there per day, flips momentum.’’
Woods will play next week at the Dell Technologies Championship, the second leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs, on a golf course where he’s won before.
He said the positive of the week was “the fact that I played a lot better than my score indicates.’’
“I didn’t make [many] birdies this week,’’ he said. “I didn’t putt well and at the end of the day, I found a piece of my game that has been missing, which is driving it well. But you have to make putts. That’s the only way we’re going to shoot low rounds. I didn’t do it this week.’’
The 120 putts Woods took this week were his second most in any event this year (after 126 at the Wells Fargo).
Woods f inished 79th out of the 80 players who made the cut in strokes gained putting, but 11th in tee-to-green and third in approach shots.
“[That’s] just the way it goes,’’ he said. “You have good weeks and you have bad weeks. The greens, sometimes they look good to you, sometimes they don’t. All of my good putts basically went in at Bellerive [in the PGA Championship] and the bad putts lipped-out. This week, the good putts lipped-out and the bad ones didn’t have a chance.’’
Woods was grilled after his round by a reporter inquiring about his relationship with President Donald Trump. “I’ve known Donald for a number of years,’’ Woods said. “We’ve played golf together. We’ve had dinner together. I’ve known him pre-presidency and obviously during his presidency.’’
Asked about how a lot of people, “especially colored immigrants, are threatened by him and his policy,’’ whether they might “find it interesting that you have a friendly relationship with him,’’ Woods said, “Well, he’s the President of the United States. You have to respect the office. No matter who is in the office, you may like, dislike personality or the politics, but we all must respect the office.’’
Asked if he has anything “more broadly to say about the state and the discourse of race relations,’’ Woods said, “No. I just finished 72 holes and [I’m] really hungry.’’
Brooks Koepka had a chance to reach the No. 1 world ranking Sunday and it came down to his final hole of the tournament.
With Dustin Johnson, who has been No. 1 for months, having finished at 10-under, Koepka came to No. 18 at 11-under needing a birdie to take over No. 1 for the first time in his career.
Alas, Koepka, the reigning U.S. Open and PGA champion, parred No. 18 and remains ranked No. 2. Johnson remains at No. 1 — at least for another week.
Aaron Wise, who challenged DeChambeau on the back nine and finished tied for fifth at 12-under, has either missed the cut or finished in the top-six in each of his past 12 PGA Tour starts. … DeChambeau’s win was the ninth victory on the PGA Tour this season by a player 25 years old or younger.
Keegan Bradley, who vaulted into contention with a third-round 62, began the day 12-under and four shots out of the lead and shot a 7-over 78 to finish in a tie for 34th. … Phil Mickelson, who flirted with contention for awhile this week, finished 9-under after an even-par round Sunday.