STILL IN THE HUNT
Tiger claws way toward top before slipping 6 back
There were moments Saturday at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farms when Tiger Woods looked in vintage form. His ball-striking was pristine, and his putts were finding the center of the cup.
But there are still too many times when Woods struggles to recreate the magic that helped him win 79 PGA Tour events. That’s when the magic turns into mistakes.
After tying his lowest round of the year Friday with a 5-under 65, Woods endured what he called a “frustrating” third round, scratching out a 2-under 68. It left him 7-under and six strokes behind leaders Abraham Ancer and Francesco Molinari entering Sunday’s final round of the Quicken Loans National in Potomac, Md.
Woods needs a low score and collapse by Ancer if he is to win for the first time since capturing the 2013 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Bubba Watson came from six strokes back on Sunday last week to win in Hartford.
“A lot depends on what they do with the golf course,” Woods said after his round. “It’s starting to dry out. If they put water on them to protect them, everybody is going to make birdies. If they leave it on the testy side and I shoot a good round, I might have a chance.”
Woods, the tournament host, looked as if he would finish better than a tie for 10th after 54 holes. After a bogey on the first hole, where he made a mess off the tee, Woods gathered himself and began to play as well as he did Friday, when he shot a 5-under 65.
Thanks to some splendid ballstriking and accurate putting, Woods made four consecutive birdies beginning at the fourth hole. None of the birdie putts was longer than 10 feet. He added his fifth birdie on the front nine by draining a 26-footer at the par-4 ninth. Only a bogey at the eighth i nter- rupted his torrid start the put him at 8-under at the turn.
The back nine wasn’t as enjoyable. After a string of pars, he suffered a bogey at the par-4 13th, on which he drove his ball into the native area and missed the green on his second shot.
Meanwhile, Ancer was scorching the course, making eight birdies to post the lowest score of his career and tie the course record at 62. Ancer, seeking his first PGA Tour victory, finished at 13-under.
Mistakes were made at the par-4 18th. Woods has struggled with his driver all year and his flaw resurfaced when his tee-shot landed deep in the right rough.
Woods gave himself a chance for par when his hard blast out of the sand rolled to within eight feet. But facing, the kind of crucial putt that hasn’t been falling, Woods missed on the left side.
“I figured I had to get to at least 10-under and making four bogeys definitely hurt that,” Woods said.
Sunday will be his last competitive round before the British Open.