Worst score ever for Tiger at Bridgestone
Tiger Woods made history again this weekend at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, but don’t get your hopes up, it wasn’t for anything good.
The last time Woods made PGA history on this course it was for winning his seventh title at the Bridgestone event in 2009; On Sunday he made history for shooting the worst 72 holes of his career, as professional or as an amateur.
It was a rough weekend for Woods from start to finish. On Sunday he shot a 77 following rounds of 74, 72, and 75, giving him a total high score of 18 over 298.
“Shooting 18-over par is not fun," Woods said."I don't see how it can be fun shooting 18 over."
Woods was T 78 for the competition, the highest finish of his career and his worst on the Firestone course ever. Of the past 11 events on the South Course Woods has never finished worse than fifth place, and the last time he shot over-par on the course was in 2006. Another first for Woods: making bogey or worse on 25 of the 72 holes played.
Woods’ final score of 298 was 39 shots higher than the record breaking score he shot at Firestone 10 years ago. And the only reason Woods didn’t finish dead last was because Henrik Stenson was also having a rough weekend and shot 20 over 300.
Woods made three birdies in the fourth round and had only ten overall for the tournament. He bogeyed six times and double bogeyed twice in the fourth round. The first double bogey came on the 14th hole. On the 15th his tee shot went far right, hitting a spectator.
At the 16th hole his ball hit the trees, twice! At 261-yards out he took his third shot with a 3-wood to try and get out of the forest. The ball sailed through the air, fans gasping at the flight of the ball only to groan moments later as it splashed into the greenside pond for his second double bogey.
"He's just not the regular Tiger we're used to seeing," said a sympathetic Anthony Kim, who beat Woods by three shots. "He's obviously had a lot of stuff going on, and he's dealing with that, and that's obviously more important than golf. Because I think golf is an easy thing to do once your personal life is straightened out. And I'm sure it's going to happen soon for him."
Sooner rather than later we hope, as Woods is dangerously close to not qualifying for the FedEx Cup opening event at the Barclays. And with only two more events before the four-week golf playoffs begin, Woods doesn’t have a lot of time to improve.
“It’s been a long year,” said a discouraged Woods.
Woods looked like his old self while driving at Aronimink for the AT&T National, and at St Andrews for the Open Championship. With the exception of his putting it seemed he was beginning to breathe life back into his career. But nothing was working for Woods this weekend.
Woods driving accuracy for the tournament was 39.3 percent, and his putts per round were 29.5. Worst of all Woods performance at the Bridgestone Invitational will see him slip in the Ryder Cup standings.
Last week at a press conference Woods said he was intent on qualifying for the team on his own terms. U.S. Captain Corey Pavin had said “there’s no doubt” he wants to see Woods on the team, but now it doesn’t even look like Woods can qualify, let alone be worthy of the captains pick if he doesn't.
“I wouldn’t help the team if I’m playing like this,”Woods responded to being asked if he still wanted to play. “Not playing like this, definitely not.” He added that, “No one would help the team if they’re shooting 18-over par.”
Tags: