Tiger Woods has not won a PGA Tour event since 2013, but it looked like that might change early on Monday at the BMW Championship. However, despite a hot start, Woods finished with a five-under 65 to fall short of a win. Woods was two shots back when he finished his round.
Woods began the day five shots back, and with course playing soft and gettable this week, it looked like he’d have too many shots to make up to end his five-year winless drought. But Tiger started quickly with a birdie at the 1st to move to 13 under. Another birdie followed at the 5th where Woods sank a 16-footer for a 3 on the par-4.
At the next hole, he missed the green with his approach shot but chipped in for his second-straight birdie.
Chip-in.
Birdie.
Fist pump. @TigerWoods is 2 back.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/2JpBwUQtbv— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 10, 2018
That moved Woods to 15 under. At the same time, the groups ahead of him kept making pars.
At the par-5 9th hole, Woods two-putted for birdie from just off the green.
Fourth birdie in 9 holes. 🐦🐦🐦🐦@TigerWoods just shot a front-9 31.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/oL6y6hRMTW
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 10, 2018
That was Woods’s fourth birdie of the day, and it left him just one shot behind leaders Justin Rose and Billy Horschel, who were stuck in neutral at 17 under at the time.
The front-nine 31 gave Woods a chance to finally get back into the winner’s circle. But two mistakes on the back nine doomed his chances.
He dropped his first shot at the par-4 10th hole when one of his few wayward tee shots of the day found a fairway bunker, leading to a bogey. He bounced back immediately with his fifth birdie at the 11. Another birdie followed at 13, but he quickly erased it with a bogey at 14.
Tiger made his seventh and final birdie of the tournament at the par-5 16th hole to again move to 17 under. But it wouldn’t be enough, as multiple players still on the course had reached 19 under.
Though Woods didn’t win, the solid finish qualifies him for the Tour Championship in two weeks, where he will have one last chance at a victory in his comeback season.
