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Tiger and Phil put on a show on Sunday, but both came up short.
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Tiger Woods made a furious run, but it wasn't enough to catch the leaders Sunday in the Masters Tournament at sun-drenched Augusta National Golf Club. He began the final round seven strokes off the pace but pulled within one with a short birdie putt at the 16th hole. That was as close as he got.
The four-time winner bogeyed the last two holes to shoot a 4-under-par 68 and finished at 8-under 280, tying for sixth, four strokes out of the playoff, won by Angel Cabrera of Argentina.
"I was right there," an obviously disappointed Woods said afterward.
Woods wasn't pleased with his pre-round practice session. After working in the chipping area, he remarked to swing coach Hank Haney, "We got what we got."
"I hit it so bad warming up today. I was hitting quick hooks, blocks, you name it," said Woods. "On the first hole, I almost hit it into eight fairway. It's one of the worst tee shots I've ever hit starting out. I fought my swing all day and just kind of Band-Aided around and almost won the tournament with a Band-Aid swing today."
He and playing partner Phil Mickelson attracted arguably the largest gallery in the 73-year history of the tournament, which included Woods' mother Kultida, escorted by Nike Founder and CEO Phil Knight. The top-two players in the world shook hands on the first tee then went about carving up the front nine in an electric atmosphere.
It marked only the third time in their careers the top-ranked Woods and second-ranked Mickelson were paired together in the final round of a major tournament. They previously played in the 1997 PGA and 2001 Masters. Woods hooked his opening drive through the ninth fairway but had an open second shot over the pine trees. He came up just short of the green, then nearly holed out his chip shot, escaping with a par.
Woods finally recorded his first birdie of the week on the par-5 second hole. Following a good drive, he hit a bullet 3-wood from a downhill lie through the green, then chipped about two feet past.
Woods made a disappointing par at the short third, failing to hit his short sand wedge approach close.
Woods made tough, two-putt pars at the fourth and fifth holes, then nearly birdied the par-3 sixth from 16 feet left of the hole. Following a two-putt par at No. 7, Woods reached the par-5 eighth in two, winding up 25 feet past the hole. The eagle putt looked good all the way and found the bottom of the cup.
At the par-4 ninth, Woods drove into the right rough. His second shot missed the green to the right, but he made a scrambling par, sinking a curling eight-foot putt to make the turn in 3-under 33, four strokes off the lead.
Woods made solid two-putt pars at 10, 11 and 12, just missing from 25-feet below the hole at the latter and bending his knees in frustration. At the par-5 13th, a hole Woods had birdied two of the previous three rounds, he hooked a 3-wood around the corner and had 220 yards to the green. Woods hit a mid-iron 30 feet left of the hole and just missed the speedy putt, settling for a two-putt birdie.
Woods came up just short of the green at the par-4 14th, his approach spinning backward. Woods hit a well-judged pitch three feet right of the hole and salvaged par.
At the par-5 15th, Woods found the fairway, then reached the green in two, the ball stopping 15 feet left of the hole. Woods did his best to will the ball into the cup, but the eagle putt slid right, leaving a tap-in birdie.
Woods delivered again at the par-3 16th, a hole he had played a combined 2-under during his career. This time, he flagged a 7-iron five feet behind the hole and buried the birdie putt to reach 10-under for the tournament, one off the lead.
Woods pulled his drive into the left rough at the par-4 17th, and his approach shot to the green was blocked by pine trees. His only shot was to play short-right of the green and try to scramble for a par. With a lot of green to work with, Woods pitched 12 feet past the hole and missed his par attempt -- his first bogey of the day. It marked the fifth time in the last eight years Woods has bogeyed the 17th hole on Sunday.
"I hit a good tee shot down 17, the wind just held it enough, wouldn't let it cut back, and consequently I was dead from there," he said.
At the par-4 18th, Woods blocked his drive into the pine straw on the right. Faced with a restricted swing, Woods choked up on the club and tried to punch through the pine trees, but his shot hit a tree dead-square and the ball caromed toward the 10th hole. Woods hit a nice sand wedge over the trees to give himself a 10-foot downhill putt to save par, but he missed. Uncharacteristically, it marked the third bogey in four rounds on the 18th hole.
"It was just terrible," Woods said of his swing. "I don't know what was going on. It was just frustrating."
On Sunday, Woods hit 13 of 18 greens and, for the second-straight day, eight of 14 fairways. On the greens, he used 30 putts Sunday, after opening with 32, 29 and 31.
Woods said he was so focused on his game that he didn't pay much attention to the frenzied atmosphere.
"You just go about your own business," he said. "Phil was obviously playing well, but still, I was just trying to post 11 (under), shoot 65 today, and I thought that would have been a good enough number to post. Obviously, I didn't do it."