Pebble beach frustration for title-hungry Woods

Tiger Woods' long and winding journey back to the game's pinnacle suffered another setback on Sunday when he battled his way to a final-round 75 at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Seeming well placed for a last-day surge after shooting a six-birdie 67 in the third round, the former world No 1 struggled on the greens as his playing partner Phil Mickelson beat him by 11 shots.

"What's frustrating is I had a chance (to win)," a subdued Woods said after failing in his bid to end a PGA Tour victory drought of more than two years. "All I had to do was get off to a good solid start today and I didn't do that.

"I thought I could get it going in the middle part of the round but instead I went the other way."

World No 18 Woods, who has not won a full-field event since the 2009 Australian Masters, recorded three consecutive bogeys from the seventh and failed to gain any momentum after the turn.

"I didn't hit it as bad as the score indicated but I putted awful," the 14-times major champion said.

"I just could not see my lines, I couldn't get comfortable and I couldn't get the blade to swing. Anything that I tried to do wasn't working.

"And consequently I made a ton of mistakes on the greens," said Woods, whose form over the past two years has been exacerbated a swing change, injury problems and the breakdown of his marriage.

Asked whether being paired with Mickelson in the penultimate group had been a factor in his last-day struggles, he replied: "Not at all. I still had to go out there and post my number."

Reuters