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CARNOUSTIE, Scotland -- This time around, Tiger Woods was a spectator at the British Open, like nearly everybody else.
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| Tiger can't get close enough to the pins to score on Sunday. (Getty Images) |
Like the weather this week along the North Sea, Woods' game was mostly painted in shades of gray. As a result, he was forced to surrender his grip on the silver winner's chalice they call the Claret Jug.
"Well, I won't be able to put my beverage of choice in it," Woods said.
After back-to-back runner-up finishes at the season's first two majors, Woods never seriously contended and failed to mount a charge Sunday, when plenty of other players were tearing up the scoreboard.
He was frequently wild, inconsistent and unable to get any momentum established -- no way to contend against the world's best, he said.
As has frequently been the case this year, his short game and long game have not always been in synch, which is one reason why he hasn't won in his past five starts.
"It would have been nice if I would have just hit the ball a little better and just given myself a chance," he said after finishing 2 under for the week. "I feel like I putted beautifully all week, but I couldn't get close enough.
"But when I did, I made them. I wasn't consistent hitting the ball close enough to make birdies, and subsequently I was on the periphery of trying to win a championship."
After winning three of his first six starts this year, Woods hasn't won since the Wachovia Championship, a span of five starts. It matches the longest winless streak of the past three seasons.
Scores were there to be had.
Americans Hunter Mahan and Ben Curtis shot matching 6-under 65s, and left-handed Aussie Richard Green threatened the all-time lowest score at a major championship before missing by one stroke with a 64. Green bogeyed the last hole when a birdie would have set the Grand Slam record, though he did tie the Carnoustie competitive course mark, which he shares with three other players.
Padraig Harrington came from six shots back with a closing 67, despite a double-bogey on the last hole.
Woods' chances were already fading when he knocked his approach shot into a water-filled bunker on No. 11. After he received a drop from the puddle, his bunker shot landed on a sloping green, but the ball rolled backward into the sand. He bogeyed and fell nine back.
"I just had a good feel on the greens, but I couldn't get the ball close enough," he said.
As a result, he wasn't that close himself.