March 19 (UPI) — Tiger Woods got within one stroke of the lead Sunday at Bay Hill, before finishing fifth at the 2018 Arnold Palmer Invitational.
One of his biggest missed opportunities happened on the 390-yard fifth hole. Woods 229-yard drive went to the right in the fairway on the par 4. His next shot went 171 yards, nine yards short of the green. Woods took out his putter for his third shot. The birdie putt went straight toward the hole, but hit off of the flag and came back out.
A birdie would have put Woods at 9-under-par.
He later move to 10-under-par after making birdies on No. 6 and No. 7. Woods carded a 35 on the front nine. But he couldn’t catch the field on the back nine. Woods hit birdies on No. 12, No. 13 and No. 16, but made par on the other six holes.
Rory McIlroy won the tournament at 18-under. Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson also edged Woods in the top-5.
“It was a great two weeks of being in contention again,” Woods tweeted Sunday. “I feel like I’m getting a little better. Great playing by Rory today to win at the King’s place. Arnie would have been proud of golf today and the charges!”
Woods hit a 68 in the first round, followed by rounds of 72 and 69, before Sunday’s final round.
“I felt pretty good out there,” Woods told NBC after the tournament. “I hit the ball probably a little bit better than I did last week. This golf course affords the opportunity to go ahead and stretch it out a little bit. The greens were really smooth and really fast. I feel like I really putted well this week. The entire week, I hit a alot of good putts.”