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Tiger Woods posts birdie-less three-over 74 in final round of the Wells Fargo Championship
Sam Greenwood
No one expected Tiger Woods to flirt with the course record on Sunday at Quail Hollow Club, but another round under par would have been an encouraging sign heading into next week's Players Championship. That was far from the case for Woods, who dropped two shots on his opening three holes and could never get anything going thereafter as he played the final round of the Wells Fargo Championship. Woods finished with a birdie-less three-over 74 that has him outside the top 50 at two-over 286.
"I didn't putt well again," said Woods, who needed 31 putts on Sunday and ranks 136th in strokes-gained/putting on the week. "I felt like I drove it pretty decent today, but I made nothing. The chances I did have, I missed them all. It was just a bad week, and the good news is wipe your hands clean and go on to the next one."
Indeed, Woods struck the ball fine all week, ranking eighth in strokes-gained/tee-to-green and 12th in approach-the-green. But the balky putter was too much to overcome. On Sunday in Charlotte, N.C., not much of anything went right, as Woods hit just four fairways and 10 greens en route to just his third 74 or worse round of the year. It was Woods' first birdie-less round on the PGA Tour in a non-major since the 2014 WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral.
Still, he says he feels good as he gets set to return to TPC Sawgrass for the first time since 2015.
"I think I obviously need to do some practice with my putter, work on it just a little bit," he said. "But I know those greens, I know the putts, but you have to hit the ball well there at the TPC, you can't get away with hitting it poorly.
"I'll still be grinding, working on my swing and making sure that's solid and driving the ball correctly, because that golf course does demand everything."