AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods wasn’t a happy man as he left Augusta National late yesterday. Instead of leaving with his fifth Green Jacket, he left frustrated with his game after failing to mount any real charge in the final round of the 74th Masters.
Woods shot a 3-under 69 to finish 11-under par for the tournament. But that wasn’t nearly good enough to catch Phil Mickelson, whose 5-under 67 yesterday punctuated a three-shot victory at 16-under par.
“I finished fourth. Not what I wanted,” a disappointed Woods said. “I wanted to win this tournament.”
It was Woods’ first competitive event of the year, ending a five-month, self-imposed layoff due to the sex scandal he has been embroiled in since last November. Though he shot a 68 in the opening round, Woods became more inconsistent as the tournament wore on. He had five bogeys in yesterday’s final round, including a three-putt bogey from 4-feet at the 14th hole.
“I didn’t hit the ball good enough and I made too many mistakes around the greens,” Woods said. Later he added, “I felt very uneasy on every shot I hit out there. I tried as hard as I possibly could to post a number and give myself a chance.”
Woods entered the final round at 8-under par, four shots behind 54-hole leader Lee Westwood. But his first tee shot was a snap hook that landed in the ninth fairway. He took bogey there and soon dropped all the way to 5-under after just five holes. He holed out from the fairway for an eagle at the par-4 7th, and posted birdies at the par-5 8th and the par-4 9th. But a bogey at the 10th after he drove the ball into the woods stalled his momentum. The three-putt bogey at the 14th took him out of the tournament for good.
Still, Woods said it was a good week. He was received respectfully by all the Masters patrons and even warmly by many.
“I feel pretty good about my play this week,” he said. “I felt everything was pretty good for the first two days. Then I putted pretty poorly (Saturday) and I hit a lot of good putts (Sunday).”
Woods wouldn’t speculate on when he would play competitive golf again.
“I’m going to take a little time off and re-evaluate things,” he said.
george.willis@nypost.com