It began with a clutch par save, but that was about as good as Tiger Wood's third round would get at the 2022 PGA Championship. Ultimately signing for a 9-over 79, the 15-time major champion fell apart in the middle stages of his round and was unable to garner any sort of momentum around Southern Hills on Saturday.
Before the sun could set, Woods officially withdrew from the PGA Championship, his first time doing so at a major in his professional career.
After posting a respectable 1 over through his first five holes, Woods appeared to be ready to held his own against the chilly and windy conditions in Tulsa, Oklahoma, despite others in the field struggling. However, that would all soon change.
A mishit club off the tee on the par-3 sixth was the beginning of the end as the 46-year-old's golf ball found the penalty area; he eventually tapped in for triple bogey. The mistakes snowballed from there as Woods made bogey on six of his next seven holes.
"I couldn't get off the bogey train there or other train, too," said Woods. "As I said, I just didn't -- I didn't do anything right. I didn't hit many good shots. Consequently, I ended up with a pretty high score."
Tiger was in jeopardy of posting the worst score of his major championship career; however, as he has done in each instance of playing competitive golf this year, he continued to battle no matter the circumstances.
A long-range birdie on the par-4 15th put Woods at 9 over for his round and 12 over for the championship. Playing his final five holes in 1 under, he avoided another entry into the dreaded "80 club" as he has done only twice prior in his major championship career.
After battling through a tough round, Tiger Woods picks up his first birdie of the day. pic.twitter.com/XYMVFfcSKj
— GOLF on CBS ⛳ (@GOLFonCBS) May 21, 2022
Woods' 9-over 79 goes down as the third-worst round of his major career and fifth-worst of his professional career.
Tiger ended the day in a tie for 76th, which would have put him in last place entering the final round. Due to persistent soreness from a leg he is still rehabilitating following a serious car wreck in February 2021, he chose not to play the final 18 holes.
Tiger Woods' worst PGA Tour rounds
| Score | Event | Round |
|---|---|---|
| 85 |
2015 Memorial |
3rd |
| 82 |
2015 Phoenix Open |
2nd |
| 81 |
2002 Open |
3rd |
| 80 |
2015 U.S. Open |
1st |
| 79 | 2022 PGA Championship 2014 Farmers Insurance Open 2013 Memorial 2010 Wells Fargo Championship |
3rd 3rd 3rd 2nd |
Rick Gehman, Mark Immelman and Jonathan Coachman discuss Tiger Woods and his withdrawal from the 2022 PGA Championship. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
