Woods trying to dig himself out of a hole

Tiger Woods rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt on his opening hole, the first step towards cutting into a five-shot deficit in the HSBC Champions as he tried to make a move and at least give himself a shot at winning.

That was also the last step yesterday. One shot later, Woods hit a wicked hook so far left into a hazard that he didn't even watch to see where it landed. He tossed his driver at the bag, took out another golf ball and headed to the drop zone.

When his third round ended in a one-over-par 73, Woods found himself 11 shots behind Francesco Molinari and having to accept that this most peculiar of seasons will end without a PGA Tour victory for the first time in his career.

"Not a very good day," Woods said, to say nothing of the year.

He still has the Australian Masters next week in Melbourne, where he is the defending champion. He is also host of the Chevron World Challenge in December, which also counts towards the world ranking.

But as far as the PGA Tour, his season ends today. The HSBC Champions is a World Golf Championship event that counts as an official tour victory if a PGA Tour member wins.

Woods had won at least once every year since he joined the tour in 1996 - 14 straight seasons - and he will fall three years short of matching the PGA Tour record of 17 straight years with a win, by Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.

Already reduced to No2 in the world - Woods could fall to No3 depending on what happens today - he can write off this season to a disaster on and off the golf course. It started late last year with revelations of his infidelity, which kept him out of golf for nearly five months. One month after he returned, he split up with swing coach Hank Haney and only began taking on a new swing with Sean Foley at the PGA Championship in August.

Woods has had only two top 10 finishes this season - both ties for fourth in the Masters and the US Open. He also failed to qualify for the Tour Championship for the first time in his career.

Since his tie for fourth at Pebble Beach, where Woods finished three shots off the lead, he has not been closer than eight shots off the leader going into the final round of any tournament.

As for today in Shanghai? "I'd like to shoot something good, something positive," he said. "And basically get it going again."