Tiger Woods Shoots 74, Falls Out Of Contention At Quicken Loans National
Well, it seems like Tiger Woods has another bad round to add to his list in a disappointing 2015 season. Woods shot a three-over par 74 on Saturday’s third round at the Quicken Loans National. On a day when birdies were abundant and most golfers progressed forward, Woods only regressed and now finds himself at five-under par for the championship and in a tie for 42nd.
Tiger was erratic off the tee on his front nine, spraying his tee shots left and right. In fact, he only managed to find the fairway once through his first nine holes, as he found himself hacking out of the rough and the trees. Woods was actually able to salvage pars through his first seven holes before dropping a shot at the par-five eighth after an errant second shot with a five wood. His troubles would only get worse as he sent his tee shot into the water hazard on the 11th, leading to a double bogey.
Woods only highlights of the day occurred when he birdied the 15th and 16th holes, the only two holes he managed to score under par. Woods flushed his tee shot on the par-three 16th with a seven iron and came within seven inches from a hole in one.
According to stats provided by the PGA Tour’s website, Tiger only hit seven out of 14 fairways and 10 out of 18 greens in regulation, and he needed a total of 29 putts for the round.
After the round, the former world number one spoke to the media, and according to reports by ESPN, he commented on his struggles throughout the day and how he felt uncomfortable with his swing even during the warm up session out on the range.
“Unfortunately, I warmed up that way. I was hitting the ball left on the range warming up. I couldn’t quite get comfortable. And flipped [hooked] it on No. 1 with the left rough off the tee. Made sure I didn’t flip it on [No. 2]. Hit a drive right. Basically, it was a fight all day. It felt like that hook was coming in and fought through it the best I could.”
After two days of impressive golf that put him only three shots off the lead, Tiger Woods has shot himself out of contention once again. It has become a familiar sight this year, with Woods struggling to put together a string of four solid rounds in any given week. Clearly, he has the tendency to lose control of his swing and his tempo, and his inability to execute his swing and his shots are costing him dearly.
Woods, now ranked 266th in the Official World Golf Rankings, finds himself nine shots behind leaders Troy Merritt and Kevin Chappell, and he will need a miraculous Sunday to have any hopes in raising the trophy.
And he needs to win if he is to be eligible for next week’s WGC Bridgestone Invitational, so it seems like Tiger will have to forgo that event. Woods will tee off on Sunday at 10:41 a.m. to begin his final round at the Quicken Loans National.
[Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images]
