Mel Evans/Associated Press

Tiger Woods Shoots 1 Under Par in Final Round of 2018 Northern Trust

Tyler Conway

If Tiger Woods wants to fix the FedEx Cup, he's going to need to head back to the drawing board.

Woods carded a one-under 70 in Sunday's final round of the 2018 Northern Trust, going into the clubhouse at four under overall in a tie for 41st place. He carded two birdies against one bogey in the round, spending most of the morning and early afternoon again battling his putter and irons.

After playing his entire third round without a bogey, Woods nearly did the same Sunday. He went through the first 14 holes without carding an over-par score before a bad drive on the par-three 15th led to a two putt from 22 feet for bogey.

The story of the round, much like it has been throughout the week, was missed opportunities. Woods missed a pair of birdie putts inside 10 feet and spent most of his day two-putting after approaches left him outside 20 feet for birdie—chances he consistently failed to convert. The best putt of Woods' round was actually a miss; he nearly drained a 44-footer for birdie on the par-five third.

"I'm just not seeing my lines. It's just one of those things where I'm struggling seeing the lines," Woods told reporters Saturday. "The pace has been OK, not great, but my feel is just a little bit off because—whether I'm seeing high lines or low lines, they are just not quite dialed in yet."

Despite his putting issues, Woods should leave encouraged with his work off the tee. He hit 11 of 14 fairways in the fourth round and hit 67.9 percent of his fairways for the week—a solid total, given drives have often derailed his rounds. Getting to the green and draining putts once he does get there will be the issues for him to fix if he hopes to get back near the top of the leaderboard.

Tiger sits 27th in FedEx Cup points, which means he should easily qualify for the remaining events. This FedEx Cup combined with the PGA Championship is the busiest stretch of golf Woods has played in a half decade, a test of both his body and his game.

This finish ends a stretch of strong play for the former world No. 1. Woods had three top-10s in his last four tournaments, including a second-place outing at the PGA Championship. 

Unfortunately for Tiger, his 2018 Northern Trust experience finished Sunday before the leaders were even in their tee box. 

   

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