This blog is written two weeks after the 2011 Masters was finished. But even long after the Masters was over, a lot of memories remain. Especially regarding Tiger Woods's week. Tiger had one of the most roller-coaster weeks ever at the Masters. With a lot of thrills and excitement, but also a lot of disappointing moments. Here is a countdown of the Top 10 most disappointing Tiger moments that happened at the 2011 Masters:
10. 8th Hole, Round 3: After a lackluster start for Tiger in Round 3, 1 over through 7, he really needed some momentum to press a charge on the leaders. After a straight drive, he had a chance to go for the green in 2. However, he misjudged his second shot and it caught a bad bounce and went over the green, leaving an impossible chip. He had to chip ot 25 feet and 2-putt for par.
9. 1st Hole, Round 3: After a spectacular second round 66, Tiger got himself into contention with a great chance to win. He hit a great drive but the drive but caught a bad break. His drive landed in a divot, causing him to hit his second shot short of the green. He chipped to 9 feet but his par putt lipped out. This hole was what set the tone for what was a highly disappointing third round that was chock-full of missed opportunities.
8. 2nd Hole, Round 3: After a very disappointing bogey, he hit a big drive on the 2nd hole and had a great opportunity to reach the green in 2 to make an easy birdie to bounce back after a bogey. However, he pulled his second shot right of the green. He pitched to 10 feet and his birdie putt lipped out - again. However, that was far from the most disappoitning miss in the 3rd round,.
7. 3rd Hole, Round 2: Most of Tiger's mistakes came on the 3rd round but he's made one very careless mistake in Round 2. After a big drive, he had a pitch left for his second shot. The hole was in the front of the green, a very tricky location. Tiger's shot came short and rolled down the runoff area. He would make bogey to prevent him from getting any early momentum for that round.
6. 18th Hole, Round 3: This hole, and the 1st hole, was pretty much the microcosm for Tiger's Saturday round. Hit the ball very well, hitting lots of fairways, but unable to make a charge because of very mediocre short game and putting. So anyway, he hit his drive right in the middle of the fairway. His second shot was pulled long of the green. He used to be amazingly good at chipping but not this time. He chipped to 7 feet and his par putt didn't even come close to going in the hole. Finishing the round with a bogey.
5. 11th Hole, Round 3: After an errant drive into the pine straws, Tiger hit a great recovery shot to 30 feet. He ran his birdie putt about 3 feet past the hole, and he inexplicably pulled his par putt, lipping it out and resulting in a VERY uncharacteristic bogey. He used to be so good at those putts, and used to NEVER miss those putts. But that was before the scandal.
4. 15th Hole, Round 3: Because of all those missed opportunities, he was really unable to mount any charge in Round 3. That was evident again on this hole. After a bad drive, he had trees blocking his view for his second shot. But the ball was still in the fairway, so he tried a pull hook to curve around the trees and onto the green. The ball barely cleared the water, leaving him with 40 feet for eagle. His first putt ended up 5 feet short. Then, he MISSED that birdie putt for a VERY disappointing par. Another one of the most uncharacterstic scenarios I've ever seen Tiger in. Hit such a courageous shot and walk away with a three-putt par. What a day that was. What a day...
3. 13th Hole, Round 4: He just came off with a three-putt bogey on 12, but after a very long drive, he's only got a short iron to this green, so he has a chance to get it close for an eagle. He's hit so many great iron shots that week, especially in the second round. But this was not one of those great iron shots. He pulled the shot long of the green into a difficult chipping area. He hit a mediocre chip to 16 feet and two-putted for a disappointing par.
2. 12th Hole, Round 4: Well, Tiger really had everything going his way on the front nine of the final round. Birdied 6 and 7, Eagled 8, and then made a huge par save on 9. He had all that momentum, yet on this hole, everything he had worked so hard to build on the front 9 -- fell apart. He hit a good shot to 30 feet. He lagged the putt to 3 feet pass the hole, and inexplicably lipped out his par putt. That was the hole that completely killed his momentum. After that hole, he was unable to make any putt and mount any charge. Had he made that putt his momentum would probably have continued to play well through the back nine and won.
1. 15th Hole, Round 4: After a few disappointing, uncharacteristc near-misses on the back nine, Tiger desperately needed to make some kind of move. Anything to keep him going. Anything to help him build some momentum. And after a perfect drive, he hit a perfect second shot to just under 5 feet. That shot set him up for an eagle which would have given him the outright lead. After all those adventures and misadventures, he actually still had some legitimate chance to win! However, that was not to be. This was the FINAL legitimate chance for him to build momentum to win this tournament. And he made yet another inexplicable lip out, missing the eagle putt. He tapped in for arguably the most disappointing birdie of 2011. And that was the last chance to make any move up the leaderboard. He had no more chances, finishing the tournament with a disappointing, but still respectable, 4th place finish, given how poorly he played in the other events this year.
That was the Top 10 countdown of the most disappointing Tiger moments at the 2011 Masters. Be sure to also read the Top 10 most exciting Tiger moments of the 2011 Masters.
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