Though Woods showed signs of being able to contend and win a major championship again

SAN FRANCISCO -- Tiger Woods tried his best to put a positive spin on things, even when there was nothing positive about his weekend. Discount Ray Ban Sunglasses For Women . Another opportunity lost. Another chance to win a major championship gone. For two rounds, Woods seemed to be in command in the U.S. Open. Then came a weekend of frustration that ran his winless streak in major championships to four years and raised even more questions about his ability to win the titles he used to take for granted. He came into the final round Sunday still contending he had a chance at Olympic Club. Then he got off to a bogey-bogey-double bogey start that took away any chance of him mounting a charge up the leaderboard. "Theres a lot of positives this week. Hit the ball really well," Woods said. "Unfortunately, I just didnt have the speed of the greens until today." Woods made some birdies coming in, but by then it was too late. He finished with a 3-over 73 that left him six shots back of winner Webb Simpson in a tournament Woods seemed poised to win after two rounds. Tied for the lead going into the weekend, his game fell apart with a series of poor drives, chunked shots and putts that didnt come close to the hole. He was 8-over-par for the weekend, even while insisting that he did everything mostly right. "I hit the ball very well the first two days and, as I said yesterday, I was just a fraction off just a couple yards here and there and thats all it takes," Woods said. "I had so many balls that landed in the fairway that went into the rough." Keeping the ball in the fairway was a challenge for all players at Olympic, where sidehill spins often sent balls into the deep grass. Woods hit 33 of 56 fairways on the week, but also had 123 putts as he struggled on the greens. He was 1 under and confident of his chances as he teed off in the third round tied for the lead with Jim Furyk and David Toms, but a fat 75 on Saturday was his undoing. Woods said his much-discussed swing changes worked well and that he was happy for the most part with how he hit it all week. His biggest problem on the weekend, he said, were distances that left him between clubs and shots that went into the rough despite being only a few shots off. "Im excited about the consistency of it," Woods said. "How well I hit the ball all week, really. I didnt really miss it that badly this week. The misses were just a fraction off, which is great. Thats what we want to have happen. And this golf course is just so demanding that a fraction off you pay a price." Though Woods showed signs of being able to contend and win a major championship again, he has not won one since taking the U.S. Open in a playoff with Rocco Mediate at Torrey Pines in 2008. Since then, he has gone through surgeries, scandal and a rebuilding of his swing that he keeps insisting is coming along fine. Woods remains stuck at the age of 36 with 14 major titles, behind the record of 18 held by Jack Nicklaus that he covets so much. He finished on somewhat of positive note, going 3 under in his last 12 holes after his early blowup. But instead of contending on Sunday in a major, he played far ahead of the leaders and was never able to mount any kind of charge once things started going bad. Asked if he felt like this was a good opportunity that got away, Woods said that could be said about a lot of tournaments. When it was pointed out that this was a U.S. Open and the majors only come around four times a year, he stuck to his script. "Finished close in major championships before, so I had a chance this week and Ill get after it in another week in (Washington) D.C.," he said. Discount Ray Ban . Alvarez tries to win his fourth start in a row this evening as Toronto wraps up a two-game series with Tampa Bay and ace David Price, who looks to rebound after having his own winning streak halted. Discount Ray Ban Sunglasses Aviator . It could be one heck of a match-up but it will be hard to surpass last years overtime thriller between these teams. I guess expecting another overtime game is expecting too much. I believe its nice that the two top-rated teams in Canada meet in the CIS final.TAMPA, Fla. -- Hours after sending a gracious yet puzzling middle-of-the-night text message to a former college coach, police say Tennessee Titans receiver O.J. Murdock died in an apparent suicide. Tampa police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said officers found Murdock about 8:30 a.m. inside his car with what appeared to be self-inflicted gunshot wounds. The car was parked in front of Middleton High School, where Murdock made a name for himself as a dynamic receiver and state champion sprinter in track and field. Al McCray, assistant head coach/receivers at Fort Hays State, said when he woke up at his Kansas home on Monday he found a message on his cellphone from the player, thanking him for everything he had done for Murdock and his family. The athlete concluded the text with an apology that baffled McCray, who said he had known the 25-year-old since Murdock was in middle school. "I spoke to him a week ago, and he was so excited about getting ready to go (to training camp). He was real happy about being able to help his mother out," McCray recalled. "You always like to hear kids who talk about that. It brings a smile to your face to hear a young man talk about Hey, Im glad Im able to help my mother out." McCray was an assistant coach at Middleton when Murdock was there and later helped the player resume his college career after he was kicked off the team at South Carolina, where he was part of Steve Spurriers first recruiting class. "The hardest part about this is I got a text at 3:30 in the morning, where he said: Coach, I want to thank you for everything youve done for me and my family. Its greatly appreciated," McCray said. "At the end, he goes: I apologize. And I dont know what hes talking about. I woke up, and Im thinking hes apologizing because he texted me so early. ... I wish he had called instead." Murdock, who signed with the Titans as an undrafted free agent in 2011 and spent all of last season on injured reserve, was taken to Tampa General, where he died. The speedy receiver did not report to training camp over the weekend because of what the Titans said at the time was a personal issue. He last was with the team in June for mini-camp. "We were concerned initially when O.J. didnt report on the 27th. But we were able to make contact with him and he assured us everything was OK and he would be in here on Sunday. He didnt make it on Sunday," Titans general manager Ruston Webster said. "He didnt give us a lot of information. He was injured and ... when he left here probably wasnt quite ready to go, so we were probably a little more relaxed on him than normal," Webster added. "If he had come in here, he probably wouldnt have been ready to practice right away." McCray said when he last spoke to Murdock, the receiver didnt provide any indication that something might troubling him. Titans coach Mike Munchak said the team didnt detect any signs, either. "We didnt have any (hints). Its a phone call you never want to get," Munchak said. "Its something that as a head coach, you never think youll have to stand in front of your team and give them that kind of news. I think everyone was shockked by it. Discount Ray Ban Sunglasses. We werent aware that there were any issues going on." As a senior at Middleton in 2005, Murdock was rated the 10th-best wide receiver recruit in the nation by Rivals.com. He signed with South Carolina, but played in only four games, making one catch, after redshirting his first season. He was arrested for shoplifting at a Florida department store during that 2006 season and suspended. "All of us here are saddened to hear of O.J.s passing," Spurrier said. "Our condolences and prayers go out to his family and friends." Murdock transferred to Pearl River Community College in Mississippi and then to Fort Hays State, where he helped he helped transform one of the nations least productive Division II offences into one of the more prolific. As a senior in 2010, he had 60 catches for 1,290 yards and 12 touchdowns. That earned him an invitation to the NFL scouting combine. After going undrafted, he was signed by the Titans last summer but spent the entire 2011 season on injured reserve after hurting his right Achilles early in training camp. Murdock had been out of football for two years when McCray talked him into doing the necessary academic work necessary to get back into school and, hopefully, rekindle his career. "O.J. came here without a visit, without anything. After I got him eligible, he could have gone anywhere he wanted in terms of Division II. A bunch of the top-rated Division II programs were recruiting him, but he was a loyal kid," McCray said. "He comes here, we go from being ranked 150th in total offence to No. 8 in the nation. We averaged 33 points a game where the year prior we were only averaging 8." Three former NFL players -- Junior Seau, Ray Easterling and Dave Duerson -- each died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds in the past year and a half. Easterling and Duerson were found to have brain damage at the time of their deaths and their families are among those suing the league over the long-term effects of concussions. Brain tissue from Seau has been released by his family for study. Murdocks name had not come up in the ongoing concussion debate, and Munchak said he had no knowledge of the player having a history of such injuries. "There was nothing that Im aware of at all with that," Munchak said. McCray said Murdocks polite, humble disposition and infectious smile made him a big hit at Hays State, which was stunned by Mondays news. "Our homecoming game his senior year, the fire marshal calls our athletic director to say: Listen, we cant allow any more people to come into this game, were at capacity," McCray said. "Our A.D. was like. No, youre not. Let em in. Thats just the impact that kid had here." "Its hard, it really is because he was such a good kid. He was lazy in the classroom in high school, and of course he messed up at South Carolina, but youre talking about a kid who was on his moms couch for two years. ... He got the grades he needed and he came up here and he had one dream, one goal: Im going to come out here and Im going to play at a high level and Ill get to the National Football League. And the kid did it. He did it." ' ' '