Tiger derailed by rough third round
NASSAU, Bahamas — Reality sucks. That’s where Tiger Woods resided for about four hours Saturday in his third round of the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Club, where he took some frustrating steps backward on the scoreboard with a buzz-kill 3-over-par 75. It was a cold dose of the reality that he’s playing in his first tournament in more than 300 days and there are going to be bumps in the comeback road. Woods, after two rounds in the 60s on Thursday and Friday put him in solid position on the leaderboard, began the day tied for fifth at 7-under par, five shots out of the lead and with only four players ahead of him. He ended the day Saturday in 10th place at 4-under par and 10 shots out of the lead. His second-round 68 created a palpable buzz, not only around Albany but around the golf world. Tiger was back. He was in contention to win, something he hasn’t done since 2013. That tantalizing possibility, however, dissolved rather quickly Saturday as Woods bogeyed Nos. 1, 3, 6, 7 and 10 and suddenly he was 5over par through 10 holes and completely out of touch of the lead that Charley Hoffman was building to 14-under with his third-round 70. Hoffman is in control of the tournament, trailed by Jordan Spieth and Justin Rose at 9-under, Francesco Molinari at 8-under and five players at 7under including defending-champion Hideki Matsuyama, who played with Woods on Saturday, along with Patrick Reed and Rickie Fowler. After the abysmal start, Woods finished the round more respectably, hitting his last six greens in regulation with birdies on Nos. 14 and 17 to climb back to 4-under.
He wasn’t as sharp with his tee shots as he’d been earlier in the week, hitting 7 of 13 fairways. He hit 9 of 18 greens in regulation, but had hit just two of the first 12 before his solid close. And he took 28 putts.
Maybe, for a player who hadn’t played a tournament round since February, it was simply too much to ask for Woods to post three, or even four consecutive rounds in the 60s in his first event.
Still, Woods waxed positively about his experience so far this week.
“Overall, I’m very happy with what’s going on this week,’’ he said. “There were a lot of questions that I had, I’m sure [reporters] have had, and I feel like I’ve come out on a good side this week.’’
Even with the poor third round, with his first birdie of the day not coming until the 14th hole, he was content.
“Yeah, it was a rough start,’’ Woods said. “Whatever I did right ended up in a bad spot and whatever I did wrong was really wrong. I just couldn’t get it turned around. It kept going the wrong way.”
But Woods refused to allow Saturday to tarnish the good things he did in the first two days despite falling out of contention.
“Well, I forget what the [betting] line was [for me] to even make it four days,’’ Woods joked. “That kind of question … times have changed a little bit.’’
Woods’ No. 1 stated goal from the start of the week was to compete for four rounds and measure himself — against his own inner stamina and health and against the best players in the world on the scoreboard.
“I really didn’t feel like I was that far off, that’s the crazy part,’’ Woods said. “It feels good to be out here fighting again. I’ve missed the fight. And getting out there competing and fighting against the golf course and rest of the guys, it’s so much fun. And I’ve missed doing this.”