The Latest: Woods finds form, finishes Masters with a flurry

The Associated Press
The Associated Press

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — The Latest on Sunday’s final round of the Masters (all times local):

3:20 p.m.

Tiger Woods finally found his form at the Masters. It came a few days too late.

Woods closed with a flurry, shooting a 3-under 69 in the final round and finishing at 1-over 289 for the tournament.

Woods had two birdies, an eagle and a bogey on the back nine. The eagle was his first at the week. His only late blemish was missing a 9-foot par putt at No. 18. Still, he played much more like the four-time Masters champion everyone remembers for the first time all week.

The former world No. 1 is returning to competitive golf after a fourth back surgery. He played the Masters for the first time since 2015.

___

2:45 p.m.

Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy have teed off in the final round at the Masters, and it sure looks like they’re feeling the pressure.

Reed yanked his tee shot at the par-4 first left and into pine straw. McIlroy pushed his way, way right but still in bounds.

Reed and McIlroy are in the final pairing at Augusta National. Reed is 14 under, three strokes ahead of McIlroy.

Reed is seeking his first major championship. McIlroy is trying to complete the career Grand Slam.

___

2:15 p.m.

Tiger Woods has his most birdies of any round at the Masters this week.

Woods made his fourth of the day when he sank a 4-foot putt at the par-5 13th. He had a decent look at eagle, but missed a downhill, 17-footer and settled for a 4.

Woods is 1 under in the final round and 3 over for the tournament. He has four birdies and three bogeys. The four-time Masters champion had three birdies in the opening round, two in the second and three in the third.

He’s trying to finish a round under par for the first time this week.

___

12:20 p.m.

Tiger Woods’s final round at this Masters may have included his best iron shot of the week.

Woods nearly aced the 240-yard, par-3 fourth. His tee shot landed a few feet short of the flag, bounced a few times and then skirted by the left edge of the hole. He was left with a left-to-right-breaking 10-footer that he dropped in the left side of the cup.

It provided a brief glimpse of what might have been at Augusta National had Woods had better distance control with his irons.

Woods missed greens right and left, never really getting approach shots in the perfect spots on treacherous greens.

His errant ways left him starting a lot sooner than expected and will have him finishing shortly after the leaders tee off Sunday afternoon.

Woods also made a birdie on par-5 second, but followed that with bogey on the par-4 third. He is 3-over for the tournament.

___

2:20 a.m.

It’s essentially a Ryder Cup rematch at Augusta National.

Patrick Reed and his par-5 prowess versus Rory McIlroy and his penchant for clutch shots.

A 27-year-old American seeking his first major championship versus a 28-year-old Irishman chasing golf history.

Reed and McIlroy are forever linked to that singles match two years ago, which Reed won on the 18th hole. The personalities are unchanged. The events, and the stakes, are entirely different.

The crowd figures to be equally loud, just not as obnoxious.

“There’s a lot of stuff that you can do at a Ryder Cup that you can’t do at Augusta National,” Reed said with a smile.

Don’t look for McIlroy to cup his hand over his ear to encourage the gallery to scream even louder. Or for Reed to point at McIlroy if he pulls off a clutch moment.

Besides, it’s stroke play. Reed had a three-shot lead. And it wasn’t just about them.

Keeping the lead won’t be easy for Reed, not on this stage. But he doesn’t buy into the idea that the pressure is all on him, a notion McIlroy quickly suggested.

“I am leading,” he said. “At the same time, he’s going for the career Grand Slam.”

___

For more AP golf coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/apf-Golf and https://apnews.com/tag/TheMasters

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.