PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- A frustrated Tiger Woods scotched any notion that injury was clouding his game after he finished a disappointing eighth at the Players Championship on Sunday.
Tied for second overnight, Woods carded a 1-over 73 at TPC Sawgrass in a final round marred by wayward shot-making and an unrelenting battle to find the middle of the fairway.
The problem was with his swing, not his knee, said the world No. 1, who has struggled for consistency following his February return after an eight-month layoff for surgery.
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"The knee feels great, no issues at all. That's a great sign," said Woods.
"I just kept hitting those spinners up to the right, and it was frustrating because if I aim down the right side, I'd spin it to the right.
"If aimed down the left side, I'd spin it to the right. I tried to put the release in early enough, but it still wasn't right."
Woods hit the fairway just six times from 14 attempts on Sunday, and 30 from 56 for the week, leaving him ranked 62nd in the tournament.
His figures for shots approaching the green were little better with 44 from 72 attempts -- 40th best in the event.
"I'll fix it. When you are playing a golf course like this and you don't have it, and the greens are this fast and hard, you can shoot some pretty high numbers. You can see some guys went pretty high," he said.
The 14-time major winner shut down his campaign last year after winning the U.S. Open in June and did not return to the PGA Tour until the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in February.
After being eliminated in the second round of his comeback tournament, Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Invitational and has recorded four top-10s in just a handful of strokeplay appearances.
While the record would draw envy from most players on the tour, the near misses have grated on Woods.
Woods said, however, he had plenty of time to get things right before the U.S. Open on June 18 at Bethpage, New York, although he has yet to make clear whether he will play again before the major.
"We know what it is, it's just a matter of me doing it. Sometimes, as we all know, playing the game is harder to do on the golf course."
