Greens Are Rough for Woods

When he saw his 20-foot birdie putt disappear into the bottom of the hole at the 18th early Sunday evening at the Masters, Tiger Woods dismissed it with a wave, as if to say, too little and too late.

He was entirely correct. Woods tied for third after a closing round of two-under 70, but he didn’t capitalize on his chances to do something special. At three holes in a row, from the third through the fifth, Woods had birdie putts that would have tied him for the lead, but he missed them all.

Woods had six three-putts, three of them in the fourth round, at the sixth, 11th and 17th.

“If I just putt normal, I would have given Phil a little bit of a battle,” he said. “I absolutely lost it out there on the greens. I’m probably going to go snap this putter in eight pieces.”

Woods also had makable eagle putts at the 13th and 15th and had to settle for birdies on both occasions.

“It was frustrating because I felt so in control of my golf ball from tee to green, then when I got on the green, I was a [wreck],” he said.

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Phil Mickelson is the fifth player since 1934 to win the tournament before the Masters and then win the Masters. The others are Sandy Lyle in 1988 (Greater Greensboro Open), Art Wall Jr. in 1959 (Azalea Open), Sam Snead in 1949 (Greater Greensboro Open) and Ralph Guldahl in 1939 (Greater Greensboro Open). Mickelson won last week at the BellSouth Classic.

It was the 16th consecutive year that the Masters winner came out of the final pairing of the fourth round.

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It was a good start and a bad end for Ben Crenshaw, who was one under through 36 holes but finished 78-79 and was last among the 47 players who made the cut. But Crenshaw, 54, who won the Masters in 1984 and 1995, said he wasn’t complaining.

“The course gets longer and longer, but I had a great time,” he said. “I had a ball.”

Crenshaw said the 7,445-yard Augusta National course played even longer because of Saturday’s rain.

“It’s a huge, huge, huge advantage to hit it so far,” he said. “Length is a major, major, major factor.”

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Jose Maria Olazabal, who started the fourth round tied for 22nd, had a 66, the low round of the tournament, and finished tied for third at four-under 284.

“No complaints at all,” the 40-year-old said. “At least I feel at peace with myself around here. I was relaxed. I was coming from behind, playing good golf and enjoying myself out there.”

Olazabal, the 1994 and 1999 Masters champion, eagled the 530-yard 15th when he hit a five-wood from 246 yards to about three feet.

“It was a great shot, considering the situation and the moment,” he said.

Going in the other direction was Sergio Garcia, who finished his third round with a 79 and closed with a 73 to end at 10-over 298, beating only Crenshaw.

“My great week? I just have to turn the scoreboard around,” he said. Garcia is winless in 30 major championships.