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Tiger Woods closes Quicken Loans National with modest 68

GAINESVILLE, Va. -- Tiger Woods gained back the three shots he lost to par on Saturday with a final-round 3-under 68 on Sunday at the Quicken Loans National. However, he lost a shot to eventual first-time winner Troy Merritt, ending his own tournament 10 shots out of first and in a tie for 18th place.

Woods got off to a hot start, making three consecutive birdies after a pair of opening pars. He was 5 under on the day through 10 holes before Woods took three steps back with three bogeys in the next four holes, including a pair of penalty shots for finding water hazards. A final birdie on the 18th wrapped up a modest final round.

"Today I started off well and really hit the ball well and I looked at the whole week in general and felt like I made some big strides," Woods said afterward.

Though Woods wasn't in the thick of it on Sunday, he took positives away from a tournament where he had three very good rounds.

"I changed my patterns ... and now I got to get a feel for it," he said. "My short game starting to come back to where it used to be. Everything kind of trending in the correct direction now."

The problem now for Woods is that his season is likely about to come to a close. Woods needed a win to qualify for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, and he has only otherwise scheduled a start in the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in two weeks. On Friday, he teased potentially playing for the first time in the Wyndham Championship as a last-gasp effort to make the FedEx Cup playoffs, but he'll have until the Friday of the PGA to decide for sure.

Woods didn't seem so concerned about the here and now, however, waxing philosophically on his long-term prospects to rediscover the winner's circle.

"I've got years ahead of me," he said,"that's how I look at it, not just this season."


Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.