Tiger Woods was delighted with the progress he made at the Quicken Loans National although the former world number one still missed out on a place at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

The American needed to win the tournament to qualify for next week’s event but he didn’t allow a disappointing third round to get to him.

At the halfway stage of the tournament, the multiple major winner was just three shots off the lead after rounds of 68 and 66. His chances of a first win in two years were dealt a crushing blow though when he hit a 74 in the third round.

An up and down round on Sunday saw him finish with a 68 and he finished the week with a solid eight-under par round.

Although he finished 10 shots behind eventual winner Troy Merritt, it was Woods’s best performance for many months.

Woods will now get a week off before he tries to finish well at the US PGA Championship and he admitted after his round that he is feeling good.

“I started off well and really hit the ball well and looking at the whole week in general, felt like I made some big strides,” he told reporters.

“My short game is starting to come back to where it used to be. Everything is kind of trending in the correct direction now.

“This is much better, much, much, much better to have a round like today. I hit the ball really well and I didn’t really miss a shot on the front nine. It was a very solid round. It was a mixed bag as far as results but the fact I had total control of the golf ball was nice.”