HIS COMMENTS after his round summed up his day.

'I just want to get out of here,' said Tiger Woods after his uncharacteristic collapse on the final day of the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai.

The world No. 1 golfer lost the plot yesterday when he was expected to give No. 2 Phil Mickelson, whom he trailed by two shots at the start of the day, a run for his money.

In the end, it proved third time unlucky for Woods as the HSBC Champions title continues to elude him.

The widely-anticipated showdown between the top two golfers in the world turned out to be a mismatch.

The 33-year-old American gave himself a mountain to climb after going four-over with two bogeys and a double-bogey in his first seven holes.

He made a late charge with five birdies in seven holes in the middle of the round but it proved too little, too late.

A bogey on the last hole saw him finish on even-par 72 and 12-under for the tournament, five shots behind Mickelson.

It was the third time in his last four attempts that Woods played in the final group without winning.

'Anything that could have gone wrong went wrong for me at the front today,' said Woods, who finished tied for sixth with Germany's Martin Kaymer.

'I got off to a bad start and buried the ball in a tee shot on the seventh.

'I hit a drive down the middle of the fairway on the 10th and ended up in someone's ball mark.

'Then I hit into the water on the 18th. Just one of those days.'

To be honest, 'those days' that Woods was referring to rarely happen to him, especially when he has the lead or is among the leaders.

Most of the time, the chasing pack or those in front of him would fall one by one like bowling pins but this time, Woods could only blame himself for not getting the job done.

Asked if there was anything wrong with his game, Woods said: 'No, it was just one of those days where I didn't put it together at the right time.'

Rather, it was hitting all the wrong shots at the wrong time for the world's first billionaire sportsman.

If anything, Woods was undone by the par-threes this week, especially the 200-yard par-three sixth hole.

He was five-over on the par-threes in four rounds - three-over on the sixth - a startling statistic for someone who is known for his sharp iron play.

Yesterday, Woods opened with three straight pars before he suffered a costly double-bogey five on the par-three fourth which left him trailing Mickelson by five shots.

It got worse when he bogeyed his nemesis hole - the sixth - and the par-four seventh to drop to eight-under.

Woods mounted a mini comeback when he collected five birdies starting from the ninth in his next seven holes to get to 13-under, but that was the closest he got to catching Mickelson.

A mis-hit chip on the short par-four 16th ruined his chances of a birdie and after missing a birdie putt on the 17th, it was all over for Woods.

After seeing his tee shot on the 18th land in the rough on the right, Woods threw his three-wood to the ground in utter disgust.

It was just not his day.

Woods said: 'I putted great in the first two days. But I just hit a couple of bad putts today.

'I putted pretty good in the middle of the round to get myself back in on the periphery. It was just one of those things where it wasn't the putter. That's for sure.'

Next stop for Woods will be Melbourne where he will be playing at the Australian Masters at Kingston Heath this week.

It will be his first appearance in Australia since the 1997 Presidents Cup.

Asked whether he would spend today recuperating or working on his game, Woods said: 'As of right now, I don't have any plans. I just want to get out of here.'