Pinehurst, N.C. ? The birdie putt dropped from five feet, Tiger Woods pumped his fist in excitement, and the roars echoed through the tall Carolina pines.

Deep into the back nine Sunday, the U.S. Open finally was on.

Woods stalked to the 16th tee, just two shots behind Michael Campbell. Everyone else had fallen back, and now it was a two-man duel between the greatest player of his time and a journeyman who never had lived up to his potential.

The massive gallery cheered wildly as Woods made his way to the tee. History was in the making, a 10th major championship for Woods and a chance at the Grand Slam – or was it?

What the crowd got was an anticlimactic ending that did nothing to add to Woods’ legend.

The club that bedeviled Woods all week long cost him dearly when he missed putts on the 16th and 17th holes to see his unlikely bid for a third Open title fail and see an even more unlikely champion crowned.

Down eight shots at one point on the front nine, Woods made a game of it with Campbell while the rest of the field slid backward. But by the time he coaxed a final birdie putt into the cup on the 18th hole, it was too late.

“I just didn’t putt well,” Woods said. “I played well today, but I just didn’t putt well. I couldn’t get the feel of the pace of the greens.”

Woods, who began the day on a bad note by making bogeys on the first two holes, came roaring back with the birdies he couldn’t make all week in front of an excited crowd just waiting for something to happen in an Open no one seemed able to take.

Tiger Woods putts and reacts to a critical miss on the 17th hole of the U.S. Open. Woods made a charge, but poor putting late kept him from winning the title Sunday in Pinehurst, N.C.

After making just six birdies while playing defensively in his first 57 holes, Woods let loose and made six in his last 15, including four on the back nine after Campbell played his way into the lead.

Woods was trying desperately to get to even par, which he figured might be good enough to win. It was, but it was Campbell who finished with the score, not Woods.

“I’m sure people didn’t give me a chance to win the tournament after my start,” Woods said. “I figured I could get back to even and see what happens on the back nine.”

What happened could have been the kind of finish legends are made of.

Woods has had them before, and for a few holes it seemed like he might have one again.

He had talked the day before about knowing how to win under the ultimate pressure test in golf, and how he knew how to be calm when it counted the most.

All he had to do was catch a player who had no experience with this kind of thing, the kind of player Woods had stared down many times before.

You don’t intimidate other players with bogeys, though. And the two Woods made on the 16th and 17th holes cost him any chance.

“I just wanted to hang in there and stay patient,” said Woods, whose round of 69 was his only under-par round of the Open. “In hindsight, we all know even-par would be in a playoff.”