News

In contention, Tiger blew one OB on the 16th hole at Bay Hill

Published

8 years ago

Mar 18, 2018

“For a moment, it looked like it was going to be Tiger Woods’ day,” NBC anchor Dan Hicks intoned late during Sunday’s final-round telecast of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Rory McIlroy, pouring in birdies, winning for the first time on the PGA Tour since the 2016, is the story at Bay Hill this week. That said, when Tiger Woods birdied the 13th hole to get within one stroke of the lead, it looked like we could be party to a very different Sunday story.

The story, that of Woods’ potential 80th PGA Tour went, went off the rails with a pulled tee shot at the 16th hole that sailed out of bounds. After the round, Woods admitted to not fully committing to a shot shape at the 16th hole.

Speaking with Steve Sands, Woods indicated he was deciding between a left-to-right slider off the tee, bombing his driver (presumably right to left), and hitting a 3-wood. He was somewhere between options one and two when he pulled the trigger, and the result was a foul ball left.

Woods limped home after the bogey five at the 16th with a bogey at the par-three 17th. After a poor tee shot at the 18th hole, Woods played short of the green with his second and got up and down for par and a final-round three-under 69 and a tie for fifth at 10 under par.

The 79-time PGA Tour winner was five shots behind Henrik Stenson to begin the day. He birdied both the par-5 fourth and par-5 sixth holes before adding another birdie at the par-4 eighth. Woods rebounded from a bogey at the ninth with a birdie at the 10th.

A sand save at the par-5 12th moved Woods to 11 under, and rolling one in from 13 feet at the par-4 13th got him to one off the lead.

One. Shot. Back. ???? pic.twitter.com/0CcQnpJZvg

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 18, 2018

After pars at the 14th and 15th holes, Woods imploded with the already discussed out-of-bounds effort off the tee.

Ultimately, with Rory McIlroy finishing at 17 under par, Woods was never going to win this tournament; he’d have needed a final-round 61 just to tie McIlroy. However, looking ahead to Augusta, fans won’t be encouraged by his stumble down the stretch or his performance off the tee–Woods was 71st in strokes gained: tee-to-green, losing 3.526 strokes to the field.

The other side of the coin, of course, most positively, is Woods played his second tournament in as many weeks and remains unhindered by his surgically repaired back. He was 19th in strokes gained: approach, second in strokes gained: around-the-green, and eight in strokes gained: putting for the week.

Woods isn’t expected to tee it up before the Masters (April 5), where he’ll be seeking his fifth green jacket.

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Ben Alberstadt

Ben Alberstadt is the Editor-in-Chief at GolfWRX, where he’s led editorial direction and gear coverage since 2018. He first joined the site as a freelance writer in 2012 after years spent working in pro shops and bag rooms at both public and private golf courses, experiences that laid the foundation for his deep knowledge of equipment and all facets of this maddening game. Based in Philadelphia, Ben’s byline has also appeared on PGATour.com, Bleacher Report...and across numerous PGA DFS and fantasy golf platforms. Off the course, Ben is a committed cat rescuer and, of course, a passionate Philadelphia sports fan. Follow him on Instagram @benalberstadt.

18 Comments

Robert Kelley

Mar 19, 2018 at 5:27 pm

As you surely know, Ben, context or the situation or the precise moment in sports is crucial, which makes your observation “Ultimately, with Rory McIlroy finishing at 17 under par, Woods was never going to win this tournament,” off the mark, to wit, if Tiger doesn’t hit his ball out of bounds and, instead, birdies one and preferably two more holes with sans bogeys to finish his round and post his score, Rory’s mindset would have been totally different and there is no telling how the resulting pressure would have effected his play from that point on.

Reply Report comment
- Tartan Golf Travel
  
  Mar 19, 2018 at 6:54 pm
  
  That’s a lot of ifs.How about if Rory didn’t play or any of the other guys that finished ahead of him.
  
  Reply Report comment
Tom54

Mar 19, 2018 at 12:54 pm

How can Tiger appear in a Taylormade add promoting the new “twist face technology” that supposedly fixes amateurs tee balls and yet it has been reported that his driver is not equipped with it? Perhaps he should have had one in the bag after some of his wild tee balls. Rory sure likes his. Tigers strength was his power. Laying back with irons because he can’t hit his driver only makes him just a better than average player. Another reason I think it will be harder for him to win is he normally plays tournaments with great fields. I do think he could win as long as his health doesn’t deteriorate because he still knows what it takes to win out there.

Reply Report comment
Ian

Mar 19, 2018 at 12:37 pm

Rory finished -18

Reply Report comment
Tom Horonzy

Mar 19, 2018 at 12:24 pm

I have loved Tiger and what he brought to the game in the nineties, almost brought in 2013 and is doing it again. Valspar sold 15000 extra tickets and needed 6 addl parking lots. There are still so many that won’t like him because he broke the color barrier like no other. He is smart, energetic, not a clone of anyone else. He is the straw that stirs the PGA and the players not only know but fear it. Sure, he gets more time on tv and everyone speaks about him but who are they MOST interested in? Sorta like politics too. The press feeds on Trump and Hillary is an also ran.

Reply Report comment
Darryl

Mar 19, 2018 at 8:52 am

Have to think Woods is going to close the deal at some point this season, must be another half dozen courses he knows well enough to ham and egg it round in contention. On current form, will his ranking get low enough to play at Firestone?

I didn’t watch last night as I have taken the decision not to watch tournaments he has entered because of the medias obsessional coverage of every little move he makes makes me want to throw my putter through the TV. Whilst I don’t wish him any ill will particularly, I was pretty pleased he binned one last night when I heard about it on social media. But I’m realistic enough to know that its probably only delaying the inevitable Second Coming moment in the media when he does win.

I don’t want him to get Snead’s record, but there’s too many Stricker/Furyk (sorry lads) friendly courses (John Deere track for example, I forget what its called) out there that he could play his Hoylake strategy on and win for him not to reach that in the next couple of seasons before a different bit of his body gives out.

His enemy is father time now (as it is for us all), how long can the non fusible parts of his golf vital anatomy hold out?

Reply Report comment
- The Maestro
  
  Mar 19, 2018 at 12:03 pm
  
  Darryl is trying a wee bit too hard to be glib. Notwithstanding the behavior that coincided with his downfall, his return to moderate form after myriad health issues is becoming remarkable.
  
  Darryl, take a hike.
  
  Reply Report comment
- jeffrey monnich
  
  Mar 19, 2018 at 3:31 pm
  
  amen! cant watch this anymore- I loved to watch golf mostly for the swings now it is like a reality show.
  
  Reply Report comment
acew/7iron

Mar 19, 2018 at 8:25 am

In other news…Speith has totally lost his game.

Back to you Jim on the latest on what Tiger had for breakfast this morning…

Reply Report comment
Foo

Mar 19, 2018 at 3:33 am

Good. Keep blowing those drives all over the planet.

Reply Report comment
- Travis
  
  Mar 19, 2018 at 12:32 pm
  
  Now, now, we know you secretly love Tiger. Stop trying so hard to act the opposite.
  
  Reply Report comment
Andrew Stein

Mar 19, 2018 at 12:55 am

He should have used the face twist….it’s the reverse of the driver he was playing. Balls ends up in play and Tiger makes birdie.

Reply Report comment
- Foo
  
  Mar 19, 2018 at 3:34 am
  
  More like ball twists
  
  Reply Report comment
john peterson

Mar 19, 2018 at 12:53 am

McElroy shot 18 under.

Reply Report comment
Andrew

Mar 18, 2018 at 10:38 pm

Is Tiger still the favorite to win the Masters? Suckers.

Reply Report comment
- Tartan Golf Travel
  
  Mar 19, 2018 at 9:52 am
  
  He never was the favorite. Just the betting favorite. Means a lot of non golfers think Tiger will win.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Andrew
    
    Mar 19, 2018 at 10:30 am
    
    But, uh, ……. how do I need to respond? Oh yea. Hater!
    
    Reply Report comment
    - Tartan Golf Travel
      
      Mar 19, 2018 at 10:36 am
      
      Right because I don’t think he’s the favorite I must be hater. Sad argument. How about he hasn’t won a tournament in 5 year. Hasn’t won the Masters in 13 years. FACTS. He certainly might contend and I hope he does but there is NO WAY he is the actual favorite. “Hater” is the argument of an unintelligent person!
      
      Reply Report comment

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2026 PGA Championship betting odds

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2 days ago

May 12, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

Scottie Scheffler leads the betting ahead of the second major championship of the year, with the World Number One a +345 favorite to get his hands on a second PGA Championship.

Rory McIlroy who won the Masters back in April is a +800 shot to complete half of the calendar slam at Aronimink Golf Club this week, while Jordan Spieth can be backed at +5900 to become a career grand slam winner.

Here is the full betting board for the 2026 PGA Championship courtesy of DraftKings.

Scottie Scheffler +345 – (Check 0ut his WITB here)

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Cameron Young +1500
Bryson DeChambeau +1700
Xander Schauffele +1850
Matt Fitzpatrick +1950
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Tommy Fleetwood +2600
Collin Morikawa +3500
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Justin Rose +4300
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Viktor Hovland +5400
Tyrrell Hatton +5500
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Adam Scott +6400
Rickie Fowler +7000
Chris Gotterup +7400
Patrick Reed +7400
Min Woo Lee +7800
Ben Griffin +8000
Sepp Straka +8400
Shane Lowry +9000
Akshay Bhatia +9200
Maverick McNealy +9200
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Jake Knapp +9200
Jason Day +9600
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J.J. Spaun +10000
Harris English +10500
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Gary Woodland +11000
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Chandler Blanchet +150000
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Adam Schenk +200000
Travis Smyth +200000
Davis Riley +225000
Martin Kaymer +400000
Brian Campbell +400000
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Kazuki Higa +450000
Jordan Gumberg +450000
Ryan Vermeer +500000
Austin Hurt +500000
Tyler Collet +500000
Timothy Wiseman +500000
Shaun Micheel +500000
Y.E. Yang +500000
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Mark Geddes+500000
Luke Donald+500000
Bryce Fisher+500000
Jimmy Walker +500000
Jason Dufner +500000
Jesse Droemer +500000
Jared Jones +500000
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Francisco Bide +500000
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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX is on site for the second major of 2026: The PGA Championship from Aronimink in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

The tournament’s location, just outside Philadelphia, and its status as a major championship mean GolfWRXers are in for a treat: WITBs from a strong field, custom gear celebrating the PGA Championship, and the rich culture of the City of Brotherly Love — we have noted a relative absence of cheesesteak-themed items thus far this week, but most of the rest of the usual suspects are well represented.

Check out links to all our photos below.