Tiger Woods Falls Short in Final Round of 2018 British Open After Shooting Par

Tiger Woods finished five under overall at the British Open on Sunday, having shot a par 71 to finish three shots behind winner Francesco Molinari at Carnoustie.

A strong start saw the American take command of the leaderboard at the end of his front nine, but after picking up three shots at the 11th and 12th holes, he slipped back.

Woods' five-under 66 on Saturday was his lowest-scoring round at a major since 2011.

His early play on Sunday mirrored the opening of the day before, as he grabbed birdies at the fourth and the sixth in what was a composed start for the 14-time major winner. On the latter, he came close to holing out for an eagle but left himself with a straightforward second putt:

After finding the bunker from the tee at the eighth hole, the 42-year-old kept his cool to save par to take a share of the lead: 

Woods repeated that feat on the following hole, and after some difficulties for final pairing Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele, he was the outright leader:

At the 10th, for the third hole running, the American pulled off a superb shot after finding a bunker from the tee on the way to saving a par. 

Tiger Tracker was impressed as he rolled back the years:

His round took a turn on the 11th, however, when his second shot left him in the rough after hitting a spectator. He followed that up with a poor chip shot that left him short of the green, where he proceeded to three-putt his way to a double-bogey.

Woods had perhaps been emboldened by the three holes prior, but ESPN's Mike Greenberg questioned his decision to go for a risky shot:

A bogey followed at the 12th, courtesy of a short approach shot from the rough that left him needing to sink a putt from more than 30 feet for par.

ESPN's Darren Rovell noted his tumble down the hotly contested leaderboard:

The round was not over, though. After stopping the rot with a par at the 13th, Woods sank an excellent putt from almost 20 feet on the 14th to return to even par for the day, but partner Molinari remained two shots ahead having also grabbed a birdie there:

At the 17th, he came within inches of chipping in for another:

He missed a short birdie putt on the final hole, though it mattered little because Molinari dispatched his to finish eight under for the tournament.