Tiger Woods shoots worst round of career, 85, at Memorial
DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Tiger Woods hit a new low with a career high.
Right when it looked as though Woods was slowly making some semblance of progress, he posted an 85 on Saturday at the Memorial for the worst score of his career. It was three shots higher than the 82 he shot in the second round of the Phoenix Open in January, which led to him taking a two-month break from competition until he could get his game in order.
Woods ended his front nine with back-to-back double bogeys for a 42. Needing a par on the 18th hole to avoid his worst score, he hooked his tee shot into the water, flubbed two chips from short of the green and took a quadruple-bogey 8.
It was his third round in the 80s as a pro.
Woods, who had to make a 6-foot par putt on the final hole Friday just to make the cut, declined interview requests, walking out the door to sign a few autographs. About 20 minutes later, his coach and caddie were sitting at a curb waiting for a van to come by to get them.
He was in last place, meaning he would play as a single Sunday for the first time in his career.
"I'm not only surprised, I feel very bad for him," tournament host Jack Nicklaus said. "He's struggled health-wise. He struggled with his short game earlier in the year. He feels like he's coming back and then he does this. I don't have an answer for it, an explanation.
"I'm sure that he probably doesn't, either."
The broader question is where this leaves him with a full summer of majors ahead.
Woods showed remarkable improvement when he returned from his break at the Masters with a tie for 17th, though he was never seriously in contention. And while he had to make putts on his final hole just to survive the cut in his last two tournaments, it still was the first time in more than a year that he made the cut in three straight starts.
And now this.
He missed a 4-foot par putt at the par-3 fourth that was above the hole. He three-putted for bogey on the par-5 fifth with another 4-foot putt above the hole that he barely tapped. His round unraveled on the par-3 eighth when he caught a tough lie in the bunker, hit it thin over the green into another bunker and made double bogey. And then he made another double bogey when his approach to a front pin came short and into the water.
Worse than the score was that Woods was rarely in position to make birdie — he had only one in his round of 85.
Tiger Woods shoots worst round of career, 85, at Memorial
