Sunday 7 June 2015 21:15, UK
Tiger Woods endured one of the most humbling experiences of his career as he completed a torrid week at The Memorial with a "lonely" two-over 74.
The five-time champion was first out and playing on his own on the final day at Muirfield Village having plummeted to the bottom of the field following his disastrous 13-over 85 on Saturday.
But Woods insisted he was able to take plenty of positives out of the sub-three-hour round despite another poor finish as he closed on 14 over par for the tournament.
After dropping a shot at the second, the former world No 1 vastly improved his accuracy from the tee and reeled off three birdies in five holes in an encouraging outward 34.
I got a solidness back, I was hitting the driver with both shapes, cuts and draws. Hopefully, in two weeks time things will be a lot better and I'll be ready to try to win a US Open
Woods got to three under for the day with a good four at the long 11th, but he was unable to scramble a par at 13 and then took four shots to reach the green at the 15th and three-putted to walk off with an ugly double-bogey seven.
He birdied the short 16th for the second day running after knocking a smooth iron to eight feet, but he bunkered his drive at 17 and bogeyed before scrapping his way to a six at the last despite being in the bunker to the rear of the green in two.
Better ball striking
"Today was a lot better ball-striking wise but I didn't finish off very good," said Woods, who will limit himself to putting practice over the next few days to let a blistered finger heal ahead of the US Open.
"Today was what I've been doing on the driving range and that was finally nice to see. I got a solidness back, I was hitting the driver with both shapes, cuts and draws.
"I was changing a few things and I was stuck right between patterns and I had to go through yesterday. I had to go through those painful moments, just like I did at Torrey and Phoenix to be able to make the leap I did at Augusta.
"Yesterday was the same thing. It was just unfortunately on a golf course like this where you can't get away with much. It kicked my butt pretty hard. Hopefully, in two weeks' time things will be a lot better and I'll be ready to try to win a US Open."
Asked how he approached the final round knowing he was playing on his own, Woods added: "To try and shoot the best score I can. Just because I'm in last place doesn't change how I play golf. Whether it's the first day or last day, doesn't matter. Play all out.
"This is a lonely sport. The manager is not going to come in and bring the righty or bring the lefty. You've just got to play through it. And that's one of the hardest things about the game of golf, and it's also one of the best things about the game of golf.
"When you're on, no one is going to slow you down. When you're off, no one is going to pick you up, either. It's one of those sports that's tough. Deal with it. For us, unfortunately, you have those days and they're five hours long."
