NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Tiger Woods’s comeback season has gone better than he could have dared hope 17 months ago, when he had his fourth operation to repair a debilitated back. There have been brilliant late charges up the leader board, five top-six finishes and a riveting last day of the P.G.A. Championship, when Woods shot his lowest final round ever in a major, sending the galleries into a frenzy as he finished second behind Brooks Koepka.
But victory has eluded him for several reasons: accuracy off the tee, sluggish first rounds and, perhaps most vexing, erratic putting.