Tiger Woods is backing himself to end his major drought in the near future after missing out at The Open at Muirfield.

The world number one looked well set to be in with a shout of winning a fourth Open Championship on Sunday after starting just two shots behind third-round leader Lee Westwood.

However, he had to watch from the sidelines as his archrival Phil Mickelson walked away with the Claret Jug after he carded a final round of three-over-par 74.

The 37-year-old, though, is confident he can turn things around in the majors at next month's USPGA Championship.

"I've won 14 and in that spell where I haven't won since Torrey Pines (2008 US Open), I've been in there," he said.

"It's not like I've lost my card and am not playing out here.

"So I've won some tournaments in that stretch and I've been in probably about half the majors on the back nine on Sunday with a chance to win during that stretch.

"I just haven't done it yet - and hopefully it will be (different) in a few weeks."

Having carded a 69, 71 and 72 in his first three rounds, to finish with a three over - which included six bogeys and three birdies - was a real disappointment for Woods.

"Well, I think if it does feel any better, it is that Phil got to three (under)," he said.

"If he would have posted one it would have been a different story.

"I think a lot of us would be a little more ticked than we are now, but he posted three - that's a hell of a number."

He added that the slow greens on the final day hampered his play slightly.

"I had a hard time adjusting to the speeds," the American said.

"They were much slower today, much softer. I don't think I got too many putts to the hole.

"I really had a hard time and left myself a couple of long lag putts early on when it was really blowing, and left them way short and didn't make those putts.

"I didn't really play that poorly. I hit a couple of bad shots at 10, 11, that was about it, and at three.

"But other than that I really hit the ball well today. I just couldn't ever get the pace of these things."

Golf 365