Tiger Woods

Account Management

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Tiger Woods didn't play the way he wanted, but retained his sense of humor after finishing fourth Sunday in the Quail Hollow Championship. Never mind that it was his fourth-consecutive Top 10 showing in five starts this year after missing nine months due to reconstructive knee surgery.

"I wasn't even first loser," he cracked afterward.

Woods has always had high expectations and is never satisfied when he doesn't win. He had a great opportunity at Quail Hollow Club, which was firm, fast and tricky, but seldom felt in sync with his swing, even after a pacesetting 65 on Thursday.

"It was just one of those weird weeks," said Woods. "I didn't really feel comfortable with my swing, especially today."

Woods closed with an even-par 72 and posted a four-round score of 9-under 279, two strokes behind winner Sean O'Hair. Woods was among the first to congratulate him. "He's got all the talent," said Woods. "We know that. We've seen how well he's played. It's just he's been through a lot off the golf course, and it's just a matter of time before all that settles in. He's got a great family, and you can see now that he's starting to gain confidence with what he's working on."

Paired with George McNeill on another warm, cloudy day, Woods began the final round trailing Zach Johnson by two strokes. The day started poorly=2 0when Woods drove into the right trees and bogeyed the par-4 first hole for the second time. He followed with three pars, just missing a 70-foot birdie putt at the par-4 third.

At the par-5 fifth, Woods drove into the first cut of the left rough, then smashed a fairway wood into the front-left bunker from 256 yards. From there, he blasted four feet from the cup and made the birdie putt - his lone birdie on the four par-5s.

Woods missed the green left at the par-3 sixth and failed to get up-and-down. After failing to birdie the par-5 seventh, where he was pin-high left in two, Woods flagged a sand wedge at the par-4 eighth two feet from the hole and easily converted to temporarily tie for the lead. Woods made a nice par-save at No. 9 to make the turn in even-par 36.

At the par-5 10th, Woods pulled his drive way left and wound up punching down the fairway with his second shot. He missed a 21-foot birdie attempt.

With swirling winds making club selection difficult, Woods failed to generate good birdie chances at the next three holes. However, he drove the green with a fairway wood at the 317-yard par-4 14th, winding up 27 feet left of the hole. Woods was unable to capitalize, three-putting for par. "I had my opportunity there," he said. "I made a mistake. I knew the green was baked out. It was downwind, and I didn't heed my own warning and ended up putting it too hard, blocked it and hit it too hard. Good combo. Then ran it by, and the next one I blocked again, then I made just a wonderful six-footer for a third putt."

Desperately needing a birdie, Woods drove into the right fairway bunker at the par-5 15th, then did well to blast a 6-iron about 90 yards from the green. His third shot carried too far and he two-putted for a par from 24 feet. Woods parred the challenging last three holes, known as the "Green Mile." He hit a superb approach shot nine feet from the pin at the par-4 18th and just missed - closing with 10-straights pars.

Woods changed driver shafts during the tournament and struggled most of the week. Using mostly 3-woods off the tee, he hit seven of 14 fairways on Sunday and tied for 41st in the field at 45 percent for the tournament. He also hit 67 percent of the greens in regulation and 64 percent overall (t-45), but tied for 11th in putting after using 31 on Sunday.

"I just need to get a little more crisp with my driving and long irons and get that dialed in," said Woods. "My short irons are actually pretty good, it's just the longer stuff is not where I want it at all."

Woods returns to competition this week in the 36th PLAYERS Championship.