Woods caps woeful Memorial with final-round 74

Tiger Woods shaved 11 strokes off his career-worst 85 of Saturday with a three-over par 74 to conclude his Memorial tournament on Sunday.

The 14-time major champion was the first man off the tee, in last place in the weekend field of 71 at a tournament he has won five times.

The odd number of players meant he didn't even have a playing partner, but the former world number one said he approached the round as he had every other in his career.

"To try and shoot the best score I can," he said of his goal. "Just because I'm in last place, that doesn't change anything."

Woods, the former world number one who has slumped to 172nd in the world, finished with a 72-hole total of 14-over 302.

That was another career worst, surpassing the 72-hole high of 298 he shot at the 2010 Bridgestone Invitational.

Erratic off the tee all week, Woods was making progress on the front nine, following an early bogey with three birdies.

A birdie at the par-five 11th, where sank a four-foot putt, put him three-under for the day.

But Woods, who insists he's committed to working through the swing changes he's implementing with instructor Chris Como, couldn't maintain the momentum.

A bogey at 13 was followed by a double-bogey seven at the par-five 15th.

A birdie at the par-three 16th was followed by a bogey at 17 and a double bogey six at 18 -- where he had finished with a quadruple bogey eight on Saturday.

"This is a lonely sport," said Woods, who has just two weeks to regroup before the US Open at Chambers Bay.

"The manager isn't going to come in and bring in a lefty or a righty. You just have to deal with it."
Source: AFP