It’s No Major Deal for Woods

It’s been a flat-out sprint for as long as anyone can remember, but Tiger Woods’ run through the majors officially came to an end Sunday in the hot summer sun of Oklahoma, where he said goodbye to Southern Hills, his U.S. Open title and his streak of winning four consecutive majors.

He almost sounded relieved afterward.

“That’s the great thing about our game,” he said. “Once your week is over it’s done. And you can start all over again.”

Woods turned in rounds of 74-71-69-69 for a three-over total of 283. He tied for 12th, his worst finish in a major since he tied for 18th at the Masters two years ago.

“To be honest with you, I played as hard as I could,” Woods said. “I tried on every shot and there’s no regrets. There’s nothing wrong with the way I played. I got a few bad bounces, yes. Did I execute the shots I wanted to, no.”

Woods had won the Masters in June, adding to his consecutive major victories at last year’s U.S. Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship. Already in 2001, Woods had won four times in 10 PGA Tour events and had top 10s in four others.

The U.S. Open also ended Woods’ streak of 40 consecutive stroke-play events at par or better. The last time Woods failed to play a stroke-play tournament in at least par was the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie, Scotland.

His $91,734 payday was his smallest check on the PGA Tour since February, when he tied for 13th at the Nissan Open at Riviera.

Vijay Singh said that no matter how Woods had played, he was probably due to experience something other than a victory.

“He can’t win every week,” Singh said. “He’s only human. That’s golf.”

Woods’ biggest problem solving Southern Hills was the par-four ninth hole, which he played in four-over.

He bogeyed the second hole but came back with birdies at the fourth and fifth, yet he never got untracked with a series of birdie putts. When he missed a makable birdie putt at the 12th, Woods said he knew he was all but out of time.

“It was fun to win four in a row, four majors in a row, there’s no doubt about that,” Woods said. “I enjoyed more than anything giving myself a chance on the back nine on Sunday. That’s where you want to be. And this week, unfortunately, I [was not] out there with the chance to win.

“That’s frustrating, but I’ve had my share and hopefully I can have my share in the future.”

The next major is the British Open, July 19-22 at Royal Lytham. Woods begins preparations right away. He has entered the Buick Classic this week at Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y.

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Tale of Tiger

A look at how Tiger Woods has done at majors since turning pro:

1997 MASTERS

* Score--70-66-65-69--270 (-18); first place by 12 shots

1997 U.S. OPEN

* Site--Congressional CC, at Bethesda, Md. Score--74-67-73-72--286 (+6); tied for 19th, 10 behind Ernie Els

1997 BRITISH OPEN

* Site--Royal Troon GC, at Troon, Scotland. Score--72-74-64-74--284 (E); tied for 24th, 12 behind Justin Leonard

1997 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

* Site--Winged Foot CC at Mamaroneck, N.Y. Score--70-70-71-75--286 (+6); tied for 29th, 17 behind Davis Love III

1998 MASTERS

* Score--71-72-72-70--285 (-3); tied for eighth, six behind Mark O’Meara

1998 U.S. OPEN

* Site--Olympic Club at San Francisco. Score--74-72-71-73--290 (+10); tied for 18th, 10 behind Lee Janzen

1998 BRITISH OPEN

* Site--Royal Birkdale GC at Southport, England. Score--65-73-77-66--281 (+1); third place, one behind Mark O’Meara* and Brian Watts

1998 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

* Site--Sahalee CC at Redmond, Wash. Score--66-72-70-71--279 (-1); tied for 10th, eight behind Vijay Singh

1999 MASTERS

* Score--72-72-70-75--289 (+1); tied for 18th, nine behind Jose Maria Olazabal

1999 U.S. OPEN

* Site--Pinehurst CC No. 2 at Pinehurst, N.C. Score--68-71-72-70--281 (+1); tied for third, two behind Payne Stewart

1999 BRITISH OPEN

* Site--Carnoustie Golf Links at Carnoustie, Scotland. Score--72-72-74-74--294 (+10); tied for seventh, four behind Paul Lawrie*, Justin Leonard and Jean Van de Velde

1999 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

* Site--Medinah CC No. 3 at Medinah, Ill. Score--70-67-68-72--277 (-11); first place by one shot

2000 MASTERS

* Score--75-72-68-69--284 (-4); fifth place, six behind Vijay Singh

2000 U.S. OPEN

* Site--Pebble Beach Golf Links. Score--65-69-71-67--272 (-12); first place by 15 shots

2000 BRITISH OPEN

* Site--Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland. Score--67-66-67-69--269 (-19); first place by eight shots

2000 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

* Site--Valhalla GC at Louisville, Ky. Score--66-67-70-67--270 (-18); first place, defeated Bob May in a playoff

2001 MASTERS

* Score--70-66-68-68--272 (-16); first place by two shots

2001 U.S. OPEN

* Site--Southern Hills CC at Tulsa, Okla. Score--74-71-69-69--283 (+3); tied for 12th behind Mark Brooks and Retief Goosen, who will play an 18-hole playoff today.

*--won in playoff