Tiger Woods back on track to catch Jack after PGA Championship showing

Tiger Woods came up just short of winning the PGA Championship on Sunday, but he reminded the crowd at Bellerive Country Club that he isn’t finished yet.

For the second time in the past month, the old Tiger Woods roars returned to a major championship Sunday.

Woods, 10 years removed from his last major title, put himself in contention during the final round for the second straight major at the PGA Championship. While he came up two shots short of winner Brooks Koepka, he reminded the crowd at Bellerive Country Club why he is a 14-time major champion.

The gallery following Woods on Sunday was massive, their cheers loud. He gave them something to root for. Beginning the round four behind Koepka, Woods birdied the second after hitting his approach to three feet. At the third, he stuck the ball to two feet for another birdie. Missing the fairway well left on the ninth, he came through with a spectacular second shot for yet another birdie.

Woods was three-under on his front-nine, and suddenly Koepka’s lead was in sight. He has not won a major championship since 2008, the pursuit of Jack Nicklaus’ 18 titles stuck in neutral while he recovered from a series of back injuries. Now it seemed like the old Tiger was back, that the chase of Jack was back on.

Golf is a game of inches, however, and Woods was on the wrong side of it at the 11th. His putt for another birdie stopped on the edge of the hole. For several agonizing seconds, the ball hung on the lip, the crowd willing it to fall. It never did, and Woods had to tap in for par.

He rebounded with another birdie at the 12th from four feet. At the 13th he drained a 10-footer, then hit his approach to within a foot on the 15th. Now Woods was within one of Koepka. But the club that gave Woods the biggest trouble on Sunday, his driver, cost him a shot at the tournament.

The 17th is a reachable par-five if you hit the fairway. Woods didn’t, not by a long shot. His tee shot went well right, narrowly missing a creek and settling into long rough. He was able to chip out and get up-and-down from short of the green for par, but valuable momentum was lost. It was a hole he needed to birdie, and he didn’t.

Woods left the St. Louis crowd with one last chance to roar on the 18th, holing a 20-foot putt for birdie. He got a standing ovation as he walked off, although it was clear by that time he would come up short.

Still, with everything Woods has gone through in the past year to get back to this point, the week was a success. His 64 on Sunday is his lowest final round score in a major. He was quick to thank the fans after the round for rooting him on the entire way.

“These fans were so positive all week,” he told CBS. “I can’t thank them enough for what they were saying out there and what it meant to me as a player just coming back to try to win a major championship again.”

For the past two majors, Woods has seemed like he is on the verge of ending his decade-long drought. At the Open Championship last month, Woods took the lead in the final round before falling back to sixth. But the thought he would be contending again at majors is one that seemed impossible last year.

“I was in contention at the last two major championships. I would never have foreseen that a year ago,” Woods said.

“At the beginning of the year, if you would have said yeah, I would have a legit chance to win the last two major championships, with what swing,” he said. “I didn’t have a swing at the time. I had no speed. I didn’t have a golf swing. My short game wasn’t quite there yet. My putting was okay, but I hadn’t played in two years. And so, it’s been a hell of a process this year.”

A year ago it seemed like Nicklaus’ record was safe for at least another generation of golfers. After watching Woods on Sunday, however, it’s no longer a question of whether he will win another major. Rather, it’s when.