Ardmore: Tiger Woods was a big favourite coming into the U.S. Open as he tried to end a five-year drought in the majors but walked away with a 13-over 293 total Sunday that he blamed on poor putting and iron play. A triple-bogey eight on the par-five second hole got world number one Woods off on the wrong foot in a final round of four-over-par 74 at Merion Golf Club.
Over the first two rounds, Woods winced and shook his left arm after several shots and admitted to playing with discomfort from an elbow injury sustained last month during his victory in the Players Championship. However, the winner of a tour-leading four events this season would not blame his performance on injury, instead pinpointing deficiencies in his game at Merion.
"I struggled with the speed all week," said Woods, who had putted brilliantly this season before slumping with the flat stick in his previous outing in the Memorial Tournament. These greens are grainy. It's one of the older bent grasses, creeping bent. So it's a little bit grainy. I struggled with the speed, especially right around the hole. Putts were breaking a lot more, I gave it a little more break and then it would hang. That's kind of the way it was this week."
Thirteen-over marked the worst score relative to par for Woods in 16 U.S. Opens as a professional. Tied into his difficulties sinking putts was his inability to place his approach shots in
09:26 AM, Jun 17, 2013
Ardmore: Tiger Woods made birdie at the first hole, only to watch his day go racing downhill from there. By the time it was over, Woods skidded to seven bogeys and a 6-over-par 76 Saturday, tumbling down the leaderboard and matching his worst round as a pro at the US Open. That left him 10 strokes behind third-round leader Phil Mickelson, the only player under par at the short but...
09:19 AM, Jun 16, 2013
Ardmore: For all those runner-up finishes, with so much heartache chasing the major he covets, Phil Mickelson has never had a better chance to win the US Open. It's the first time he has ever had the outright lead going into the final round. Of the nine players within five shots, only one has the experience of winning a major. And Tiger Woods went from contender to middle-of-the-pack by matching...
08:55 AM, Jun 16, 2013
Pennsylvania: Tiger Woods, battling an injury and changing conditions at Merion, had two bogeys and a birdie on Friday morning to complete a three-over 73, six shots behind US Open leader Phil Mickelson. Woods returned to finish eight holes in the weather-delayed first round. After sinking a short par-putt at the 11th, he bogeyed the 12th, birdied the short par-three 13th and bogeyed 17. The world number one, seeking to...
11:50 PM, Jun 14, 2013
Pennsylvania: Luke Donald bogeyed two of the last three holes in tough scoring conditions to hand Phil Mickelson a one-shot lead when the weather-delayed first round of the US Open was completed on Friday. Englishman Donald had been a stroke in front with five holes remaining when play was suspended in fading light on Thursday but slipped back with three-putt bogeys at the par-four 16th and par-four last to card...
11:33 PM, Jun 14, 2013
Ardmore, Pennysylvania: Tiger Woods said his left wrist was fine. It's his game that was hurting him Thursday in the U.S. Open. Woods finished only 10 holes in the rain-delayed first round at Merion, spending far too much time trying to gouge out of the thick rough with a wedge. On at least four occasions, he was either flexing or shaking his left hand after the forceful shots. He was...
10:12 AM, Jun 14, 2013
Ardmore, Pennsylvania: Clouds gave way to peeks of sunshine, squeegees gave way to putters, and the 13th hole gave way to birdies during the first round of the U.S. Open's return to Merion Golf Club on Thursday. Drenching storms caused a 3 1/2-hour delay, halting play less than two hours after it began. When the golfers returned to the course, one thing was evident: a 102-yard hole was easy pickings...
11:50 PM, Jun 13, 2013
Pennsylvania: Sergio Garcia on Tuesday made repeated apologies for the "fried chicken" jibe he directed at Tiger Woods last month, saying he "felt terrible" and had left a note for the American in his locker. Though the two players shook hands on the practice range at Merion Golf Club on Monday in their first meeting since Garcia made the reference, the Spaniard said it had not been an "appropriate place"...
08:39 AM, Jun 12, 2013
Pennsylvania: It has been five frustrating years for Tiger Woods since he won the most recent of his 14 major titles but the world number one says nothing has changed for him in the way he approaches golf's biggest events. Asked by reporters at Merion Golf Club on Monday whether the major challenge had been easier for him during his glory days in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Woods...
08:33 AM, Jun 12, 2013
Sergio Garcia approached Tiger Woods at the driving range at Merion Golf Club on Monday and after a brief exchange shook hands with the world number one in an apparent attempt to make up after their recent unpleasantness. The meeting during practice for the U.S. Open was the first between the longtime adversaries since Garcia made a "fried chicken" reference directed at Woods last month at a European Tour awards...
08:32 AM, Jun 11, 2013
Pennsylvania: Merion Golf Club has been linked with some of the most iconic moments in championship golf and Tiger Woods will aim to add a chapter of his own when he competes there in this week's US Open as the overwhelming favourite. A host of other in-form players can lay claim to being genuine contenders for the year's second major, which begins on Thursday, but Woods is widely viewed as...
01:46 AM, Jun 11, 2013
Ardmore: Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott will play together the opening two rounds of the U.S. Open next week at Merion. For the third straight year, U.S. Open officials have put the top three players in the world ranking in the same group. The U.S. Open disclosed the tee times in a tweet on Friday, with the rest of the draw expected later in the day. The feature...
12:04 AM, Jun 08, 2013
New York: India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, with earnings of USD 31.5 million, has been ranked at 16th place on Forbes' list of highest-paid athletes, which has been topped by golfer Tiger Woods. The magazine said 31-year-old Dhoni moved up 15 positions this year. In 2012, he was placed at 31st position. The influential business magazine estimated that Dhoni made USD 31.5 million over the last year from prize money...
08:57 AM, Jun 07, 2013
New York: Tiger Woods has become the world's best-paid athlete once again after reclaiming golf's number one ranking, according to business magazine Forbes. Woods had total earnings of $78 million over the past year - $65 million in endorsements and the remainder from appearance and prize money, Forbes said in its annual sporting survey (www.forbes.com/athletes). The American returned to the top of golf's rankings in March for the first time...
07:43 PM, Jun 06, 2013
Dublin: Most of the perks from winning the Memorial were evident to Matt Kuchar soon after his 20-foot birdie putt tumbled into the final hole on Sunday. He looked just beyond the 18th green to where 3-year-old son Carson was giving a high-five to tournament host Jack Nicklaus. He had the first multiple-win season of his PGA Tour career. Kuchar went to a career-best No. 4 in the world ranking....
09:12 AM, Jun 03, 2013
Ohio: Rejuvenated by the recent birth of his first child, American Bill Haas rebounded from successive missed cuts on the PGA Tour to grab a three-shot lead in Friday's weather-hit second round at the Memorial Tournament. While five-times champion and last year's winner Tiger Woods battled to a two-over-par 74 in gusting winds at Muirfield Village Golf Club to sit 10 strokes off the pace, Haas putted superbly on lightning-fast...
08:33 AM, Jun 01, 2013
Dublin: Charl Schwartzel made sure one hole didn't ruin an entire round in the Memorial. Schwartzel hit the ball so consistently well at Muirfield Village on Thursday that the former Masters champion twice had stretches of four straight birdies. And when he made a double bogey with an 8-iron in hand and his ball on a tee toward the end of the round, he got rid of that bad taste...
08:40 AM, May 31, 2013
World number one Tiger Woods is to compete in the inaugural Turkish Open in Antalya in November, the European Tour said on Tuesday. The $7 million event at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal course in Belek will form part of the new Final Series on the Race to Dubai, Europe's lucrative end-of-season equivalent of the U.S. Tour's FedExCup competition. Fourteen-times major winner Woods also featured in last year's unofficial World Golf...
09:02 AM, May 28, 2013
Virginia Water: Sergio Garcia spoke of his unending gratitude to the Wentworth galleries after soaring into title contention at the PGA Championship with a sizzling four-under-par 68 in Saturday's third round. The 33-year-old Spaniard was embroiled in a racism row with Tiger Woods earlier this week and had to issue an unreserved apology after making a "fried chicken" jibe at the world number one. Garcia was almost lost for words...
10:08 PM, May 25, 2013
Next week's Memorial tournament at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio will feature one of the season's strongest fields with the world's top six players all taking part in the PGA Tour event hosted by Jack Nicklaus. Top-ranked Tiger Woods will be back to defend the title he claimed by two shots last year while Rory McIlroy (second), Adam Scott (third), 2010 champion Justin Rose (fourth), Brandt Snedeker (fifth) and Luke...
09:34 AM, May 25, 2013
