   
| Woods solid in final round of disappointing PLAYERS week  PGATOUR.com Senior Correspondent PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Sometimes even the best can over-read, overreact and overreach. Tiger Woods ceased doing those things Sunday at THE PLAYERS Championship, and he finally was able to avoid shooting over par.  Tiger Woods shot 67 on Sunday. (WireImage)
A rather tidy 5-under-par 67 -- just his fifth sub-70 round in his last 24 rounds at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course -- allowed the No. 1 player in the world to depart the TPC Sawgrass with a measure of satisfaction and a level par 288 score for the tournament. While that's not exactly a result he sought at the outset of the week, Woods at least had something to build on with maybe one more start before the U.S. Open. "I just haven't played well here at the right times," said Woods, who was nursing a sore left knee (the one he had surgically repaired in 2002) and the disappointment of finishing outside the top 10 for the sixth year in a row, or since he won the '01 PLAYERS. "This year I felt like I hit the ball decent or at least good enough to contend, but I didn't make any putts. Consequently, I'm well out of it. In years past, I haven't played all that well." Woods insists he struck the ball better than a week ago in winning the Wachovia Championship. "But I didn't putt anywhere near as well. Last week I made all those putts (but) I had 12 lip-outs this weekend. Last week I had like one or two. I was making every one, hence, I was able to win the tournament, and this week I wasn't in it." When he holed out, Woods was tied for 33rd place, which figured to be his worst finish in seven starts this year and third lowest at TPC Sawgrass. A philosophical change on the greens helped Woods shoot his lowest round since his final-round 67 in '01. He needed just 27 putts and had a string of eight straight holes with one putt. It didn't hurt that he hit more fairways and greens than any other day. "I didn't play that much better. I just made some putts. I had a run there ... one putt at every hole. Usually that works," he said, grinning. "Today I changed my approach. I didn't walk all the way around it. I said I'm just going to go with my first instinct and hit it and be aggressive." Woods said he'll be fine-tuning his game in the coming weeks and intends to make a second scouting trip to Oakmont in suburban Pittsburgh before the U.S. Open begins on June 14. He also has to monitor the health of his knee, which hurts whether he is walking or swinging a club. "It's sore. It's definitely sore. That's what happens I guess when you get in your 30s," he said. "It's just wear and tear. All you do is keep training through it ... keep busting your butt, and it'll get better and stronger." |
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