Tiger Woods After Players Championship: 'I'm Not That Far off from Winning'

While a double bogey on the 17th hole overshadowed his final round somewhat, Tiger Woods still took plenty of positives away from finishing tied for 11th at the 2018 Players Championship.

Woods told reporters following the tournament Sunday he didn't think his score of 11-under told the full story of his performance at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

"I'm not that far off from winning," said an optimistic Woods.

"I really played really good today; I hit it so good," he said, per ESPN's Bob Harig. "I had control of it from tee to green. I made some putts. I felt good on basically every facet of the game, and it's weird—not to really mishit a shot today and only shoot 3 under par is just weird ... because I played much better than that."

Woods was one of many golfers to run into trouble on the famed island green. His tee shot was well short of the mark and landed in the water, courtesy of the PGA Tour's official Twitter account:

Woods was already too far back of eventual winner Webb Simpson to mount a serious title challenge, but losing two shots on No. 17 meant slipping out of a tie for fifth and into 11th.

Seeing the 14-time major champion was a great sight for many fans, but the Guardian's Ewan Murray was skeptical his performance carries much significance:

Earlier this year, Woods had back-to-back top-five finishes at the Valspar Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational. Then he tied for 32nd at the Masters and was 16 shots back of champion Patrick Reed. He followed up by tying for 55th at the Wells Fargo Championship.

Because he remains golf's biggest star, it's easy to get carried away when Woods puts together a strong round or two, which was the case at The Players Championship. He was one-under through the first 36 holes before going 10 under over the final 36.

The 2018 U.S. Open tees off at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on June 14, and that event will provide Woods an opportunity to show he's still among the world's best on one of the biggest stages.