With all the will of the world, Tiger could not come back screaming

Rewrite the story is terribly difficult and Tiger Woods could not keep his hand on a shaky pen. There was an echo of Muhammad Ali's autumn days about the closing of the 147th Open as the gallery and the sport wanted their hero towards actions that he was ultimately unable to deliver.

For nine holes, Woods played sky golf. He briefly led alone, even, for the first time in seven years. He and millions of others have dreamed of winning a 15th major, his first in a decade, but a mid-term collapse made for Woods, decked out with his hands almost on the title. In the end, he could only watch his sparring partner, Francesco Molinari, become the first Italian to win the Claret Jug.

Maybe we did not have the right to demand more from Woods on his return after three years and four back-to-back operations, and his 71 for 279, three behind the winner , was not bad in this company and these circumstances.

Woods implored a statement to scare the field, but missed a long birdie on the 1st. On the 461 yard, he again got precision and accuracy on the tee but misjudged the speed and angle of his 15-foot attempt.

With defending champion Jordan Spieth, two groups and four shots alongside Xander Schauffele. Woods needed to make the most of every opportunity to score on the new front easier. An 18 mph breeze blew on his right shoulder when he hit light grbad and tangled on the right of the 3rd fairway, wiping the burn with yards to spare rather than attacking him. short pin placed.

Fourth Birdie Opportunity

He pulled out his driver on the 4th rank of 415 yards, finding a good lie in front of the dog paw, from which a 134-yard shot gave him his fourth. birdie luck – and this time he nailed it, 15 feet. A statement finally: three behind Spieth and Schauffele, and the only under-normal player among serious contenders. Now he looked like a threat

. His conduct was mortal in a straight line, safely in front of the ditch that crossed the channel at 280 yards on 5. His ball rolled away from the hole in a minor valley and he made the parade again when he could have had more.

Back with the driver on the 6th of 580 yards, he negotiated bunkers on the right and joined a group picked out the green in two – in a swollen breeze – 94 feet from the pin through the Grbad waving and turning left for the eagle. He was happy with the birdie and briefly alone at seven under, now a single shot behind Spieth and Schauffele, who both gave a return on 5.

It was nearly two hours before Woods made a real mistake, find a bunker on the 7th of 410 yards but, from a friendly lie, he jumped his shot within four feet and saved. He came out of another bunker on the 9th to stay steady.

Woods was firmly in a world of his own – and tied with Schauffele in the lead, as Spieth suffered. After 10 years, we were back in Tiger's business. As noted by Darren Clarke, "at its best, it bores the golf course". But it was anything but boring. Nine holes of the house, he had lit not only Carnoustie but all the golf.

The wind faded and Woods turned to the house as the sentimental and logical favorite as his rivals began to sweat and stumble. However, he did not hit it so nicely on the tee of 10, and needed an extraordinary shot from a bunker to reach the edge of the green, a breakaway that will stay on the reels. for the coming years.

It is a measure of his dominance that the excellence of his playmate Molinari was almost invisible to the animated gallery. It was about to change. Woods found hay to the right of the 11th of 382 yards and, hitting in a 19 mph wind, beat him in a hellish setback after bouncing off a spectator, misjudged a difficult throw and managed to go back to five sous. With only a few easy holes to go and the hardest golf to finish, it was Tiger's turn to sweat. When he bugged on the 12th, it was as if someone had stolen a child's Christmas present.

A missed birdie at age 13 left behind the two leaders. The quiet consistency of Molinari was at the center of the group as he registered his 13th rank. On the 14th, who had dropped 54 birdies, the Italian went long and straight, the American long and left. Desperate, Woods escaped from a distance on the green, falling very low, then climbed up with a nervous stripping putt to stay in the fight.

The dreaded 17th, 16th and 17th pbaded without a hitch – easy birdie on the last one, which sums up his day. He gave Molinari a hug for his winning birdie, and the story was told.

– Guardian