Tiger can't find game to mount comeback in Charlotte

2009-05-05

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By Jim Ryan - SportingNews

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Tiger Woods was playing for a blue jacket rather than a green jacket this week, but for his second straight tournament, the world's best golfer could not come from behind on Sunday to win.

At Augusta, Woods made a run at the top of the leaderboard before bogeying the last two holes. At the Quail Hollow Championship, Woods couldn't get going in the final round, shooting a 72 and finishing 9-under par, two strokes behind champion Sean O'Hair.

"I didn't hit the ball well at all today," Woods said. "With this wind you have to. You have to flush it to keep it going through that wind, and I wasn't doing a very good job of that."

Woods failed to take advantage of scoring holes on the back nine Sunday. He hooked his tee shot badly on the par-5 10th hole, preventing him from reaching the green in two. Woods ended up making par.

At the short par-4 14th, Woods drove the green and had a 25-foot putt for eagle. He then three-putted for a disappointing par.

"It was downwind, and I didn't heed my own warning and ended up putting too hard," he said. "The next one I blocked again, then I made just a wonderful six-footer for a third putt."

Essentially needing a birdie on the par-5 15th to remain in contention, Woods hit his tee shot into a fairway bunker and made par again. He played the "green mile," Quail Hollow's brutal three-hole finishing stretch, at par, but by then it was too late to catch the leaders.

One of those leaders was playing one group in front of Woods: O'Hair, who birdied 15 and 16 and was 13-under before bogeying 17 and 18. He entered the clubhouse tied with Lucas Glover, who was then on the 17th hole.

Glover said Saturday that he has "serious demons" on 17, and they haunted him again Sunday. He hit his tee shot in the rough to the right of the peninsular green, leaving himself a delicate downhill chip that he hit well past the hole. A two-putt dropped him to 10-under, and he made par on 18, giving O'Hair the champion's navy blue blazer.

At the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, O'Hair blew a five-stroke lead on Sunday, when Woods made a 15-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole for his first win since returning from knee surgery.

O'Hair was asked Sunday if it was especially gratifying to win when Tiger was in contention. "I'm not sitting there saying, 'Oh, I beat Tiger this week,'" O'Hair replied. "It's just nice to win a golf tournament where it was a solid field."

One player did revel overtly in beating Woods this week: Bubba Watson, who finished the tournament tied for second, one stroke ahead of his friend and frequent practice partner. Watson said it was the first time he had beaten Woods.

"I'll text him here in a bit," Watson said. "Then he'll just tell me how many wins he has."