Woods Doesn’t Fear ‘S’ Word

And from Tiger Woods, another first . . . the first time in his career he has gone five consecutive tournaments out of the top 10.

Woods, two-time defending champion of the PGA Championship, tied for 29th this time and struggled to make the cut by a shot.

It has been a streak of descending results. In a stretch of tournaments beginning in mid-June at Southern Hills, Woods has tied for 12th (U.S. Open), tied for 16th (Buick Classic), tied for 20th (Western Open), tied for 25th (British Open) and now 29th at Atlanta Athletic Club.

Woods did not duck a question that used the word “slump” after his round.

“I think it’s part of playing sports,” he said. “You can’t play well all of the time.

“I really haven’t gotten things to go my way, and on top of that, I really haven’t played well.”

Woods has three important events coming up and not much time to turn himself around. The $5-million World Golf Championship/NEC Invitational is this week, the $5-million World Golf Championship/American Express is in mid-September and the Ryder Cup is Sept. 28-30.

Counting the PGA Championship, he is playing six times in seven weeks, which may not be the best way to change fortunes. At the same time, it’s possible that a heavy schedule may help Woods play himself out of his slump.

Woods was never more than three under at any point of the PGA Championship. He finished with six consecutive pars, a round of even-par 70 and a 72-hole score of one-under 279.

Woods, who won the Masters at 16 under, played the U.S. Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship at a combined one over. His last tournament victory was June 3 at the Memorial.

Woods needed 126 putts, 20 more than David Toms and Steve Lowery. He also had some trouble off the tee, hitting 32 of 56 fairways for 57.1%.

In any event, Woods said he was encouraged by his play Sunday.

“It has been disappointing that I wasn’t able to play all week the way I wanted to,” he said. “Today I really hit the ball well. I showed some signs of how I was hitting it earlier in the year.”