World No1 fades to a tie for sixth at Muirfield but hopes to restore his putting touch in US PGA Championship at Oak Hill
There was a time when Tiger Woods's name on the leaderboard during the final day of a major would strike fear into the hearts of all contenders. Those days seem a lifetime away, when his family waited in expectation at 18th greens across the world and almost invariably the man lifting silverware on a Sunday evening was clad in red.
Back then there was a sense of inevitability as Woods went through the gears in mesmeric fashion, sinking putt after putt and leaving other players trailing in his wake. Yet his wait for a 15th major continues after a final-round three over par at Muirfield to finish five shots adrift of his compatriot Phil Mickelson, on an afternoon when Woods appeared a shadow of his former self.
The world No1 produced some fine golf on the first two days of the 142nd Open and, as he walked up the 18th fairway here to rapturous applause on Sunday, the 37-year-old smiled to the galleries before sliding an attempted birdie putt narrowly past the cup.
Woods certainly appears to have exorcised the demons that have haunted him in recent years, after his world collapsed in spectacular circumstances four years ago. A warm handshake on the final green with his former caddie Steve Williams, with whom he fell out badly, was more evidence that where there was once only sorrow there is now reflection.
However, there is still plenty of work to do before Woods returns to his formidable best. The American has not secured a major title since Torrey Pines for the 2008 US Open and, while overhauling Jack Nicklaus's record total of 18 majors was once a matter of "when", it is now very much a case of "if".
"I want every one, are you kidding me?" said Woods when asked how much he desired the victory on these links. "I felt like I was really playing well today, actually for the whole week. I hit so many good shots and really had control of my ball, it was just trying to get the speed and I just didn't get it.
"I've won 14 [majors] and in that spell where I haven't won since Torrey, I've been in there. It's not like I've lost my card and not been playing out here. I've won some tournaments in that stretch and I've been in probably about half the majors on the back nine on Sunday with a chance to win. I just haven't done it yet but hopefully it will be in a few weeks."
Unusually for Woods it was his short game, normally so reliable in pressure situations, that let him down on Sunday. A three-putt on the 1st, missing a 5ft effort for par, set the tone for an afternoon when he struggled to come to terms with the pace of the greens, which were playing markedly slower than on the previous three days.
Woods's putting was his downfall for the duration of the round. On the 2nd his birdie attempt stopped well short and another three-putt followed on the 4th.
He failed to recover from a disappointing opening eight holes and on the par-five 9th Woods slightly overshot the green with his second shot, sending his chip from the first cut well left of the pin.He sunk the remaining putt to card his first birdie of the day but then pulled his tee shot at the 10th well left and played the back nine one over par, starting with two bogeys before clawing back to finish tied for sixth place.
There were glimpses of the magic that the game's followers have become accustomed to in his approaches to the greens but more often than not there was a sense of anticlimax whenever Woods picked his putter out of the bag.
"Overall I've been very positive about how I played this week," he said afterwards. "The frustrating part is I didn't get the speed. As the greens got slower I had a harder time adjusting and hitting the putts harder because that first day I think it got to a lot of us. They were really quick and they kept getting faster and faster but, as the week went on, they got slower.
"I'm very pleased with the way I'm playing, there's no doubt. I'm right there and I hit a ton of good shots this week. The only thing that I would look back on is I just never got the speed after the first day, because it progressively got slower. It was frustrating.
"What makes it better is that Phil [Mickelson] got to three under. If he posted one under it would have been a different story and I think a lot of us would be a little more ticked than we are now. But he posted three under and that's a hell of a number."
Woods will have one more opportunity this year to end his five-year major drought in three weeks' time when the US PGA Championship arrives at Oak Hill in New York state. It is a tournament he last won in 2007 – by two strokes from Woody Austin – and represents a chance to end his season on a high.
However, it may take a little longer before the Tiger is roaring once again.