Tiger’s charge falls short when putter won’t cooperate

By TIM DAHLBERGAP Sports Writer PINEHURST, N.C. (AP) – Tiger Woods made two straight bogeys when it mattered most and still won the Masters. He couldn’t get away with it again in the U.S. Open. Not even the best player of his time could overcome the kind of mistakes Woods made on the 16th and 17th holes as he desperately chased Michael Campbell in Sunday’s final round. They came around the greens that tortured Woods all week, and they cost him both the Open title and his long-shot chance at the Grand Slam. “Unfortunately, it didn’t work out for me,” Woods said. “I didn’t feel comfortable with my putter all week. It was frustrating because I could never get the speed right.” Woods made an improbable rally from eight shots off the pace to pull into contention with a birdie on the 15th hole that had him punching the air with his fist. But he made a poor chip and putt on the next hole for a bogey, then sealed his fate with a three-putt on the 17th. He kept intact one record he would have rather broken _ never having come from behind in the final round to win any of his nine majors. But until he made back-to-back bogeys, he had the massive gallery roaring with delight and Campbell worrying about what was yet to come. “I knew Tiger was coming after me,” Campbell said. Woods made it a two-man tournament, offering the only challenge to Campbell after the rest of the leaders _ Retief Goosen included _ had fallen by the wayside. He did it by finally making some birdies, six in his last 15 holes, after making only six in his first 57. The difference was that Woods, after preaching patience all week and shooting for the center of greens, finally decided to take some chances. He pulled out the driver, aimed at pins with his irons and took runs at putts he had been hesitant over during the first three rounds. When it came down to it, though, the same putting woes that cost him all week proved his undoing once again. “I figured if I could just to even par that I might, if I was lucky, might be able to get into a playoff,” Woods said. As it turned out, he would have been in a playoff with Campbell, who finished right at even par. But Woods finished 2 over, salvaging a bit of pride with a birdie on the 18th after the disappointment of the two previous holes. He wasn’t about to claim any moral victories, though. “If you feel you had a chance to win and you didn’t take that opportunity to win the tournament, then it’s disappointing,” Woods said. Woods didn’t start the day like he was going to be a factor. He was six shots back on the first tee, eight shots down after the second hole and going backward when he had to move forward. “I’m sure people didn’t give me a chance to win the tournament after my start,” Woods said. “I figured I could get back to even and see what happens on the back nine.” His play steadied, though, and birdies on the 10th and 11 holes gave him a peek at Campbell. When he dropped a 5-footer for birdie on the 15th hole, Woods pumped his fist in excitement and the roars echoed through the tall Carolina pines. Deep into the back nine, the Open was finally on. Woods stalked to the 16th tee, just two shots behind Campbell. Everyone else had fallen back, and now it was a two-man duel between the greatest player of his time and a journeyman who had never lived up to his potential. The massive gallery cheered wildly as Woods made his way to the tee. History was in the making, a 10th major championship for Woods and a chance at the Grand Slam _ or was it? What the crowd got was an anticlimactic ending that added nothing to the Woods’ renown. He drove into the rough, made a poor chip and missed an 8-footer for par. On the next hole, he had 25 feet for birdie, knocked it 6 feet by and missed the putt coming back. Just like that, the charge had evaporated. Instead of the kind of finish legends are made of, Woods finished meekly despite a birdie on the last hole. He had talked the day before about knowing how to win under the ultimate pressure test in golf, and how he knew how to be calm when it counted most. All he had to do was catch a player who had no experience with this kind of thing, the kind of player Woods had stared down many times before. You don’t intimidate other players with bogeys, however. And the two Woods made on the 16th and 17th holes were the difference. “I just didn’t putt well,” Woods said. “I played well today, but I just didn’t putt well. I couldn’t get the feel of the pace of the greens.”