Leaving empty-handed but with food for thought

139th BRITISH OPEN FINAL ROUND:Tiger Woods was in reflective mood as he examined his play at St Andrews, writes Philip Reid

YOU CAN’T win them all, even the world’s number one knows that. The problem for Tiger Woods, though, is that what once seemed as easy as peeling an orange has become as difficult as cracking open a coconut. Another major without a win. The hard shell of a favoured championship on a favoured links proved impossible to prise apart here, and, unlike the previous two British Opens over the Old Course, in 2000 and 2005 when he left with the Claret Jug, Woods yesterday left with his mind whirling around searching for positives.

After all, he’d ditched his Scotty Cameron putter which had served him so well in majors since 1999 – guiding him to 13 of his 14 career major titles – in favour of a Nike prototype. For the final round, he admitted it was a mistake and returned the trusty old blade to his bag. In shooting a final round 72 for 285, three under, Woods finished hours before and a distance behind the new champion.

So, the positives? “I feel satisfaction in the sense that I drove it on a string all week and hit my irons pretty good. But, other than the first day, I did not putt well at all. You just can’t play and expect to win golf tournaments if you have nine or 10 three-putts for a week. No one can win doing that. I’ve got to clean that up before I tee up again,” admitted Woods in an honest period of reflection.

Woods, who is due to take a two-week break before re-appearing on tour at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Akron in a fortnight, followed by the US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, claimed that his driving was “better than it’s been in years,” adding: “My iron play? Not quite as sharp as I need to have it, and my putting is way off . . . the biggest positive is that I’ve built on my ball striking.”

Tongue firmly in cheek, he added: “It’s ironic that as soon as I start driving it on a string, I miss everything (with the putter). Maybe I should go back to spraying it all over the lot make everything.”

Of course, Woods is returning to another favoured haunt at Firestone Country Club – where he has won seven times since its elevation to a WGC-designated tournament – for his next outing, but he is still in a so far fruitless quest for a tournament win in this truncated season where his personal life has been very much more important than his golf.

Still, for a place which he’d said he would chose as his favoured choice to play all four majors, a tied-23rd finish – on the back of his tied-fourth finishes in the Masters and the US Open – was disappointing for Woods. He started strongly with birdies at the first and third but then incurred double-bogeys at the fourth and the seventh, where he drove it into a fairway bunker – up against the wall – and had to hit out backwards. From there on in, it was a face-saving exercise with no hope of adding to his 14 majors.

As he prepared to go, Woods was reminded that he had won half of his majors at venues where this season we’ve had the Masters, US Open and British Open. Augusta. Pebble Beach. St Andrews. Finally, that quick smile of old. “The good news is, I’ve won half of them not on these venues, too.”

And, with that, he was gone. Akron beckons.