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Tiger narrowly missed several putts during his final round Sunday.
Struggling on the greens from start to finish, he closed with a 3-over-par 75 and placed second in the PGA Championship, three strokes behind Y.E. Yang of South Korea, the first Asian player to win a major title.
Prior to Sunday, Woods was 14-0 when leading after 54 holes.
"I hit the ball so much better than my score indicates," a gracious but disappointed Woods said afterward. "I made absolutely nothing. Terrible day on the greens."
Woods gave himself plenty of good looks, but the ball refused to fall. He finished with 33 putts on the long, frustrating day.
"I was certainly in control of the tournament," he said. "I did everything I needed to do except get the ball in the hole."
Yang played steady, if not spectacular golf given the trying conditions, and equaled Sunday's best score with a 70.
"He's always been a wonderful ball-striker," said Woods. "And I think the only thing that has held him back was the flat stick. And today he went out there and executed his game plan. He did the things he needed to do. I think he played beautifully."
Woods and caddie Steve Williams arrived at the course about an hour before his 2:45 ET tee time. Woods changed his shoes in the parking lot, tipped his cap to cheering fans and patted a young boy on the head while making his way to the putting green. As soon as he pulled out his putter, it began to rain, and Woods donned black rain gear.
Ten minutes later, he went to the driving range to practice, walking to the far right side. Per custom, Woods taped his right index finger, which often blisters from practice sessions. Then he loosened up with short pitch shots and went to work.
More than 1/4-inch of rain fell overnight, softening the course. However, stiff winds of more than 20 mph whipped through the course, promising to make club selection tricky.
The 33-year-old Woods, gunning for his third straight PGA Tour victory, started the final round at 8-under 208, two-strokes ahead of the 37-year-old Yang and defending champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland. Current U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover and Henrik Stenson of Sweden lurked four shots back.
Although Yang had never played with Woods before, he beat the world's No. 1 in the HSBC Champions in Shanghai, China, in 2006. Earlier this year, Yang also won his first PGA Tour event, the Honda Classic.
Woods has proven a great runner. Not only was he 14-0 when tied or leading a major championship after 54 holes, he owned a 47-3 overall on the PGA Tour with a third-round lead. Only once had he lost any event when leading by two or more strokes, that coming in the 2000 Deutsche Bank SAP.
Additionally, Woods was playing for history, hoping to join Walter Hagen and Jack Nicklaus as the only five-time winners of the PGA Championship.
By the time Woods reached the first tee, his red-striped shirt was soaked with perspiration and the rain had stopped. Just before he hit, the sun and blue sky appeared.
After using driver the previous two rounds from the elevated first tee and finding the left rough, Woods was able to hit 3-wood because the hole was playing downwind. He wound up in the first cut of the right rough. From 184 yards, he drew a beautiful 7-iron six feet and misread the putt, the ball missing low-left.
Woods split the fairway with an iron at the par-4 second then flushed an 8-iron from 187 yards 18 feet below the hole. The birdie putt looked true, caught the right edge of the cup and lipped out.
Woods found the left fairway bunker at the par-5 third and could only punch the ball down the fairway, leaving 168 yards to the hole. He hit a 6-iron 30 feet past the hole and two-putted for a par, marking it the fifth straight par 5 he failed to birdie.
At the 220-yard, par-3 fourth, Woods hit a 5-iron 50 feet short of the hole. He left his birdie attempt five feet short and three-putted for a bogey for the second consecutive day, dropping into a tie for the lead with Yang at 7-under.
Woods drove accurately at the par-4 fifth but misjudged the wind with his second shot and found the left, greenside bunker. He blasted six feet right of the hole and converted to regain a one-shot lead over Yang, who bogeyed the hole.
With the wind increasing, Woods hit a nice drive at the par-4 sixth then covered the flag with a 9-iron from 150 yards.
In a sign of how the round was going, the ball bounced forward into the back rough instead of spinning backward toward the hole, but he was able to get up-and-down for par.
Still searching for his first birdie of the round, Woods hit the fairway at the par-5 seventh then chose to lay up short of the green. His sand wedge from 87 yards checked up 35 feet short of the hole, and he two-putted for a par.
The 167-yard, par-3 eighth was especially tricky with swirling wind -- Harrington made eight in the group ahead -- and Woods found the left bunker. He blasted beyond the hole into the fringe and two-putted for a bogey from 20 feet.
Yang two-putted for a par to regain a share of first place with Woods at 6-under.
Sticking to his conservative game plan, Woods hit a fairway wood off the tee at the par-4 ninth and two-putted from long range to make the turn in 2-over 38. Yang also parred, and the two were deadlocked at 6-under heading to the back nine.
Woods got a great break at the par-4 10th, where he blocked a 3-wood into the right trees, but the ball bounced left into the fairway. He hit his second shot 12 feet right of the hole but failed to capitalize, missing left.
At the 608-yard, par-5 11th, Woods crushed a long drive and reached the front of the green with a 3-wood from 260 yards.
He lagged his eagle attempt two feet from the hole and polished off the birdie -- his first since the 14th hole on Saturday -- to retake a one-stroke lead over Yang at 7-under.
Woods pulled his tee shot into the gallery on the left at the massive 515-yard, par-4 12th. He drew a good lie and had to hook his second shot around trees, but the ball jumped and flew over the green. Woods hit his third shot 18 feet past the hole and two-putted for a bogey to drop back into a tie with Yang at 6-under.
Woods hit a beautiful tee shot at the 240-yard, par-3 13th, the toughest of any major this year, the ball finishing eight feet left of the hole. But once again, he couldn't capitalize, missing left. Yang made a terrific up-and-down from the left bunker to keep pace in what had boiled down to match play.
At the short, 301-yard, par-4 14th, Woods cut a driver that slid too far right and wound up in the greenside bunker. His long explosion shot stopped 12 feet short of the hole, but Yang holed a chip shot from just short of the green for an eagle to climb to 8-under. Desperately needing to make his birdie putt to stay close, Woods responded with a birdie. But he still had dropped a shot and now trailed for the first time since the 14th hole Thursday.
Woods pounded a long drive at the 640-yard, par-5 15th. With 282 yards to the green, he mishit a 5-wood and came up 70 yards short of the green. Woods knocked his third shot with a lob wedge 10 feet below the hole and thought he stroked a perfect putt, but the ball stayed left and refused to fall. He went to the signature 16th hole trailing by one.
With the wind whipping off Lake Hazeltine, Woods gave himself a long birdie chance at 16 and did well to two-putt from 40 feet left of the hole. Yang's approach shot flirted with the hazard on the right but hung up, and he two-putted to retain his slim cushion.
The par-3 17th hole was playing 189 yards downwind, and Woods flushed a 7-iron straight at the flag. But as was the case most of the day, he guessed wrong, and the ball flew over the back of the green into thick rough. Woods chopped his third shot onto the putting surface, but the ball landed softly, leaving a 10-foot putt. He missed left, but Yang three-putted to give Woods hope.
"I made just a sweet swing," Woods said of his second shot. "If you notice, I backed off because the wind had switched dead against me. And it was supposed to be down and across. Y.E. got the same gust that I got when I backed off. He hit a good shot, but you could see the ball stand up.
"He got the wrong gust, got it into his face. And I hit my shot. I got the downwind gust. I couldn't ask for a better golf swing, just hit it right over the top of the flag. And unfortunately, didn't get it up-and-down."
Both players found the fairway at the challenging 480-yard, par-4 18th. Yang applied more pressure by stiffing his second shot eight feet from the hole, while Woods wound up pin-high left in heavy rough. His last gasp was to chip in and hope Yang missed, but it wasn't to be. Woods missed and Yang made it.
Woods said the turning point was the 13th and 14th holes.
"I stuffed it in there," Woods said of 13. "He made a mistake, hit in the left bunker. He blasted out. I missed my putt. He made his. And then he chipped in on the next hole. A lot of different things could have happened in those two holes."
Woods usually feasts on the par 5s but was an accumulative 6-under for the tournament. He played them 3-under in the first round, 2-under in the second, even in the third and 1-under in the fourth.
He also struggled on the par 3s. Woods was 3-over on Sunday and 4-over for the tournament.
"I played well enough to win the championship," he said. "I didn't get it done on the greens. And you have to make putts. All the other 14 major championships I've won, I've putted well for the entire week. Today that didn't happen."