Whatever the culprit, for Tiger Woods the results have become clear. Whether it is his putting or simply his inability to “score” the way he once did, the byproduct is a final-round average that it is very un-Tiger-like.
Sunday’s closing 75 at the Dubai Desert Classic, a round that began with two bogeys through three holes and ended with a double bogey-7 at the last, is starting to become a familiar theme.
He also signed for a Sunday 75 at the Farmers Insurance Open last month and a final-round 73 at the Chevron World Challenge.
The lone exception was a final-round 65 at last year’s Australian Masters but the trend has become clear. He ranked 126th on the PGA Tour last year in final-round scoring average (71.4), a dramatic increase over his 68.75 and 68.42 in 2006 and ’00, respectively.
