Tiger Woods Was Darn Good, But Not Good Enough

For the longest time on Sunday, it looked like Tiger Woods was turning back the hands of time.

Carnoustie was beating up the best of them, taking a toll on overnight leaders Jordan Spieth, Kevin Kisner and Xander Schauffele.

In the early going, Woods seemingly had what it takes to put an exclamation point on this comeback of his.

The 14-time major champion had it going.  He plotted his way through the 20-25 miles per hour winds.  He made his presence felt with birdies at the fourth and sixth holes and suddenly he was seven-under par and looking like a 15th major was certainly within reach.

By the 10th holes, Woods was tied for the lead.

The crowds were buzzing, the television guys were swooning — would this be the day?

Ten years without a major — would this be the end to that long dry spell?

Then the 11th and 12th holes happened.

“I made a few mistakes,” Woods would point out after his round.  At the 11th he made bogey, no big deal but the 12th would spell disaster.  After his drive found some thick stuff, his second sailed out-of-control left.  “Oh my God!” Woods let out as he watch his second sail toward the gallery.  He appeared to get a good break when his ball bounced off a spectator and back toward the hole, leaving him a testy lie and a testy shot with a nasty pot bunker between him and the hole.  Woods tried to go high but the grass twisted his club a bit, causing his third to come up short.  His fourth didn’t get him close enough and two putts later he walked off the par four with double-bogey — his first of the tournament.

Those two holes looked like they took a lot out of him.  He did manage a birdie at the par five 14th but that only got him back to where he started — five-under par with the difficult stretch holes in front of him.  Justin Rose had already posted six-under and the lead was back at seven-under.

Tiger suffered one remaining indignity when someone screamed “Tiger” in the middle of his backswing on 18 tee.  Woods glared at the stands.  His drive ended up well despite the distraction, he stuck his second to six feet and promptly missed his chance to finish six-under.  His even par round left him tied for sixth.

“I figured nine-under was going to be the number,” said Woods, who has been pretty good at predicting winning scores in majors.  “I figured I had to go get that number.  It’s not easy, it takes every facet of the game working.”

Down the stretch, Woods realized that he was out-played and out-steadied by his playing partner — Francesco Molinari — who posted eight-under to win.

“The way Francesco played today was beautiful,” Woods observed. “His short game was there.”

There was some good news for Woods, despite his failure to win.  His tie for sixth will move him to No. 50 when this week’s  Official World Golf Rankings are posted — and that is exactly where he needs to be to play in the WGC-Bridgestone in two weeks.  It will be the final playing of the event at Firestone Country Club in Akron, where Tiger has won eight times.