KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C.— It was another wobbly weekend for Tiger Woods at a major championship.
Woods shot an even-par 72 on Sunday — after finishing a third-round 74 earlier in the day — and ended up 11 strokes behind winner Rory McIlroy at the PGA Championship.
It was a disappointing slide for Woods, who was tied for the lead after two rounds but is still trying for his first major title since 2008.
“The thing is, to keep putting myself there,” he said. “I’m not going to win them all and I haven’t won them all, so I certainly have lost a lot more than I’ve won.”
Especially lately.
At Kiawah Island, his chance slipped away Saturday, when he bogeyed three of seven holes to start the third round before play was halted by rain.
“I came out with probably the wrong attitude (Saturday), and I was too relaxed, and tried to enjoy it, and that’s not how I play,” Woods said. “I play full systems go, all out, intense, and that’s how I won 14 of these things.”
His 15th major championship will have to wait at least until next year, even though he was in the mix yet again. In the U.S. Open this year, Woods finished 75-73 to go from a tie for the lead to a tie for 21st.
At the British Open last month, his final-round 73 left him tied for third. That was his worst round of the tournament.
At the PGA Championship, Woods returned to the course Sunday morning facing a 7-foot par putt on No. 8, which he promptly missed to drop another stroke behind. He rebounded later in his third round with birdies on Nos. 11 and 13, but the damage was done.
“You know how I am. I’m intense and I’m focused on what I’m doing and nothing else matters,” Woods said. “I got back to that today and I hit some really good shots and I played the way that I know I can play.”
Woods wasn’t pleased with a drive on the par-4 15th. His club went sailing when he let go of it on the follow through, and the ball flew well to the right of the fairway, landing in a grassy, sandy area not too far from the beach.
He was able to recover, hitting a terrific shot to the green. He then came up limping for a few seconds before pulling what appeared to be some sort of prickly brush off the right leg of his pants.
Woods looked fine when he arrived at the green and two-putted for par.
“It got in both legs — well, left shoe, right shoe, and then in my right leg,” he said. “It itched like hell for about a hole, and it was fine.”
He finished the third round five strokes behind and was never a factor after that. McIlroy’s final-round 66 had everyone else pretty much playing for second place, and Woods tied for 11th.
In the final round, Woods fell to his knees after barely missing a 20-foot eagle putt on the par-5 second hole. A tap-in birdie there and another birdie at No. 7 weren’t nearly enough.
“I putted really well today — had the speed good,” he said. “Unfortunately, I just didn’t give myself enough good looks.”
Woods went on to bogey both par 5s on the back nine while McIlroy pulled away to win by a tournament-record eight strokes.
“The key is putting myself there each and every time, and you know, I’ll start getting them again,” Woods said. “We’ve got a lot of golf to be played the rest of the year, some big events coming up and the Ryder Cup at the end of it — so looking forward to that.”