Then he shot 76, failed to make a birdie all day and finished four shots behind victor Francesco Molinari.
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In the penultimate group, Kevin Kisner has made three bogeys and a double to go as far back as five under. But this random yell during his drive on the par-4 18th didn’t exactly make Tiger fans happy.
Rose, who had to birdie the 18th hole in the second round to even make the cut, backed up that round with a 64 on Saturday that put him into position to make a move into the leaders.
Huge crowds descended on the seaside links and the majority were willing Woods to claim a fairytale 15th major a decade after his last one.
Unfortunately, it was not his day and it all caught up with him.
“It has been big news Italy, my recent run of form”, Molinari, who has now won three out his last six starts and finished second twice.
Molinari, the world No.15, ended two shots clear of Schauffele, Rory McIlroy, Kevin Kisner and Justin Rose, who had to birdie the last on Friday to make the weekend cut.
The 35-year-old then had to wait to see if anyone could catch him.
Molinari shot a bogey-free, 2-under 69 to finish on 8-under 276. Playing with Tiger was another challenge. For the first time I felt like I was ready for it.
Woods had every reason to believe he would cap a most improbable comeback from four back surgeries.
He secured another birdie on the par five seventh, holing an uphill putt – this time there was no fist pump just a determined look in his eyes as he strode off the green. Spieth hit into a gorse bush and made double bogey on the par-5 sixth.
Two hours earlier, Woods had one hand on the Claret Jug for what would have been the fourth time after surging to the lead with a flawless front nine on a day when the previously missing wind finally bared some teeth.
His anger over his mistakes was tempered by perspective, comparing it to Serena Williams losing in the finals at Wimbledon.
Despite being a few shots shy of the lead at the beginning of his round, Francesco Molinari has won the 2018 British Open Championship.
“With my family and Paul. we’ll all sit down and have a chat. he’ll obviously have some great advice and put me on the right path”.
The No. 72-ranked English golfer hadn’t been hopeful ahead of Sunday’s round, saying “today was, really, I wouldn’t say a write-off, but I didn’t feel I was in the golf tournament”.
Even a long hug from his two children afterward wasn’t enough to ease the sting. 6 player in the Official World Golf Rankings isn’t still on the same path considering how he’s found such a stellar game at this point in his career.
For someone whose self-belief has always seemed unshakeable, the 42-year-old genuinely seemed surprised when it dawned on him that he could have potentially been crowned champion on Sunday after his third-round 66.
And when he hit a remarkable approach shot out of fairway bunker at the 10th – clearly a high lip and getting the ball over a burn – it appeared to be Woods’ day.
This round wasn’t flashy, and neither is Molinari.
But there are five players between him and the outright lead – and what amounts to two threesomes tied with him.
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But not the most memorable. “I won’t lie. I had too much to drink last night”, he said after shooting 67 and finishing in a three-way tie for sixth.
