Sports

Woods out of it after an ugly 76 at U.S. Open

ARDMORE, Pa — It went from a slight chance to none, and Tiger Woods is no longer kidding himself.

In yesterday’s third round of the U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club, the world’s No. 1 player shot himself out of contention with a 6-over 76, taking him to 9-over for the tournament and 10 shots behind the leader, Phil Mickelson.

“It is certainly frustrating because I certainly was feeling like I was playing well this week and I just didn’t make the putts I needed to make,” said Woods, who came into the day just 3-over and four shots off the second-round lead. “The first two days, I had like three three-”‘putts and I was four shots off the lead, and I missed a boatload of putts within 10 feet. So I really wasn’t that far off. If I clean up the round and don’t three ”‘putt, I’m one shot back starting out [yesterday].

“So basically, I just didn’t have the speed right this week and it certainly showed.”

U.S. OPEN LEADERBOARD

So if there’s always a reason, and it’s always specific, then Woods will look to his putting as the culprit, the bandit who pulled the rug out from under his feet and denied him a chance at a 15th major championship. But even more detailed is that Woods never got the speed of the greens right, what could be construed as a backhanded excuse for a golf course that got more than seven inches of rain over the past week then finally began to bake in the sun yesterday.

“I just couldn’t get a feel for them,” Woods said. “Some putts were slow, some were fast and I had a tough time getting my speed right.”

Wood also has been battling a left elbow injury, something he has downplayed and his coach, Sean Foley, told The Post on Friday he thinks isn’t a big deal. But forget the elbow, how about the slippery 4-footer Woods missed on the final green after a chunk iron from the fairway and a chip that looked pure until it trundled past the hole and caused more resignation than anger.

Most thought this was going to be Woods’ best chance at a major this season, having won four times on Tour already this year. He put together a great run of golf at the Masters in April, but was undone by an unfortunate break when a wedge shot on the 15th hole hit the flagstick and rolled back into the water, resulting in a triple-bogey.

“At Augusta I was pretty close and I had the lead at one point and I hit that flag and ended up in the water,” Woods said. “This week I was cleaning up the rounds and I’m one shot off the lead starting the last day without any three-”‘putts. And I’m playing well enough to do it, and unfortunately just haven’t gotten it done.”

Going into the stretch of holes from 7-13, the place at Merion where most players make the bunch of their birdies, Woods went 2-over. He had a three-putt bogey at the 280-yard 10th hole, and the hit an awful low-hook 5-wood off the 12th tee that ended up in long rough and forced a chip-out bogey.

Asked if this is the most difficult U.S. Open setup he ever has seen, the three-time champ said, “Most definitely.

“Because of the pin [placement], I think. The long holes are playing really long and short holes obviously are short, but the thing is that the pins out there, what they’re giving us out there are really tough.”

When Woods got toe the long par-4 sixth hole, his drive split the middle of the fairway — but ended up in a ball mark from a previous shot, meaning he had to play it as just another awful rub of the green.

“It was kind of the way it went,” Woods said as he walked off, watching another major pass him by.

* Woods wasn’t the only big name to struggle. Rory McIlroy, the world’s No. 2 player who was paired with Tiger for three consecutive rounds, shot a third-round 75 and is 8-over.