Woods will turn frustration into fuel for U.S. Open

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A tie for sixth was simply not enough for Tiger, who chased the leaders hard on Sunday in Augusta.

The first shot of his day careened toward the eighth fairway. The putts that always circle the cup and fall in banged out.

And that miracle we always expect? It ended with a thwack into a tree.

Yes, Sunday was a jolt to our collective system. So imagine how Tiger Woods felt.

Bad warmup. Filled with quick hooks and blocks. And not the first.

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But, more often than not, he's worked his way through it. Figured it out. He's put the bad session behind him and found inspiration in a brilliant par or the earth-shattering roar that accompanies one of his signature, exclamation-point putts.

It's what he does.

Just not this time.

Tiger on the fringe. Staying in touch, but not quite jumping into that stretch run. The knee? Time off? Nah. Had to be something we were missing. He always comes back. Doesn't he?

He needed a 63 and got a 68. He needed to start four shots back, not seven. He needed a swing that produced magic, not one held together with band-aids. Limping to a major title on a bad knee is one thing. Creating major shots with a swing caught in the Tasmanian devil's vortex is quite another.

And, yes, he was don't-wanna-talk angry.

Terrible. Frustrating. Almost. Not the words he was expecting to use Sunday afternoon.

Not the feelings he expected to have. And definitely not the swing.

We expect to see Phil Mickelson playing from another fairway. Not Tiger.

Something's just not right. It felt as though he was swinging too hard at times. Reaching. Trying, perhaps, to force that one rebellious part of the swing back into line.

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Woods left Augusta National angry with his performance.

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He and Hank Haney have been hard at work since doctors green-lighted that knee, and, honestly, it's still coming together.

He hit it great at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship where he tied for ninth, but not-so-good at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, which he won. He hit it better at the start of the Masters than he did at the end.

When that happens? Well, seven shots might as well be a dozen.

It's always been near-impossible to catch the leaders at Augusta National. Even if your name is Tiger. Or Phil. If it's Jack? Well, yes, there was 1986.

Everything fell together for Jack on that back nine. He played flawless golf, while the others struggled just enough.

You know that's what Tiger had in the back of his mind. Throw it at them. Make them sweat. See what happens. Pressure does funny things.

Like send shots into trees.

The pressure got to the leaders at the end. But by then, Tiger was gone. He stopped for a few quick words, then headed straight -- you know the look -- to his car.

Frustrating? Try expletives deleted.

He expects so much more than even we expect of him. He doesn't mind that bar we've set for him because his bar is so much higher.

And the attention? Watch his face the next time one of those miracles dives into the hole or he carves an impossible shot into the green. There's only one player whose shots rock the world. Even Phil has to admit he's a close second.

So Sunday was a jolt. Tiger and Phil had us from those first ugly tee shots -- Phil's went dead right and smack into a tree. And when they sprinted up the leaderboard? You knew something would happen. Just not what did.

Tiger will take that tie for sixth to the house and remember it could have been a jacket. Then he'll take it to the range and figure out just what's holding him back.

Could less mean more in his swing?

We'll see.

He's got few stops between now and Bethpage Black, where he'll defend his U.S. Open title on the brutal New York course. He won there in 2002, of course, but with a different swing and a band-aided knee.

So we leave you with this: The knee's good, and he's already back at work on the swing. He's looking ahead and so are we -- to what kind of jolt he'll deliver at the Black if he has no band-aids at all.

Melanie Hauser is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM. Her views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.