Woods faces another Sunday at a major with little hope

— One day he couldn’t find enough fairways. The next day he couldn’t make any putts. The third day he couldn’t get close enough to make any putts.

That leaves a fourth day for Tiger Woods, with little to play for in the PGA Championship.

Eight shots behind going into the third round, Woods didn’t make a birdie until the 16th hole at Harding Park. That was followed by his best shot of the day, an approach from 209 yards to 5 feet for birdie on the 18th. And then it was time to sign for a 2-over 72 on Saturday, leaving him out of contention at another major.

“It’s just like yesterday,” Woods said. “I just didn’t get anything going, and had to claw and fight to get my way back, and didn’t get anything going until the last few holes.”

Woods finished an hour before the leaders teed off, and he was left with another Sunday at a major without much hope.

His victory in the Masters last year was one of the most emotional ever for Woods, who endured a major knee surgery and four back surgeries since his previous one 11 years earlier.

Since then, however, Woods has not been a factor in majors, with missed cuts at the PGA Championship and British Open last year, and a big deficit going into Sunday at the U.S. Open.

Woods said it wouldn’t be difficult for him to get up for the final day at Harding Park, which until this week has brought only happy memories in his previous two experiences as a pro.

“Get ready for the (FedEx Cup) playoffs, and we have the U.S. Open after that. We have some big events to be played,” he said. “And hopefully, tomorrow I can shoot something in the red and get it to under par for the tournament.”

The PGA Championship is only his fourth tournament of the year, and his second in the last six months because of the pandemic that shut down golf from March to June.