TIGER TAKES COMMAND
WOODS SURGES AHEAD OF FIELD HEADING INTO FINAL ROUND OF TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
ATLANTA — Tiger Woods made it look and sound as if he never had been gone.
More than turning back time, every hole seemed like the one before on Saturday at the Tour Championship. A tee shot striped down the middle of the fairway. The clean strike of an iron as he held his pose. A sonic boom of the cheers from around the green. Another birdie.
“I got off to an ideal start,” Woods said. “And the next thing you know, I was off and running.”
With the most dynamic golf he has played all year, Woods built a five-shot lead in seven holes before he cooled from there, settled for a 5-under 65 that gave him a three-shot lead over Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose and an ideal chance to end this comeback season with a moment that has defined his career Winning. Woods has the 54-hole lead for the first time since his last victory, in 2013 at
the Bridgestone Invitational. He never has lost an official tournament when leading by more than two shots going into the final round, and his closing record with the lead is 42-2 on the PGA Tour.
He never has been in better position to show he’s all the way back from four back surgeries that once made him fear he might never play again.
“I’ve gone through a lot this year to get myself to this point, and understanding and fighting my way through it,” Woods said. “I’m certainly much more equipped than I was in March because of what I’ve gone through.” Wood was at 12-under 198 and will be paired for the first time in a final group with McIlroy on the PGA Tour.
McIlroy birdied two of his last three holes for a 66.
“It’s obviously exciting for the golf tournament. It’s exciting for golf in general that he’s up there,” McIlroy said. “But for me,. all I can do is concentrate on myself. The game is hard enough without looking at other people. Go out there, take care of my business, and hopefully that’s good enough.”
Rose started the third round tied with Woods, but not for long.
Rose opened with two straight bogeys before battling back, but the world’s No. 1 player already was four shots behind after four holes. He narrowed the gap with a birdie on the 16th as Woods had to scramble for bogey, a two-shot swing.
“In some ways, it felt like a Sunday just with the energy,” Rose said after a 68.
Rose won’t be in the final group, but he has plenty on the line even if he doesn’t catch Woods. He likely needs to finish in the top five to be assured of winning the FedEx Cup and the $10 million bonus.
There used to be no chance against Woods when he was atop the leaderboard going into the final round. His only losses with the 54-hole lead were the Quad City Classic in 1996 when he was 20 and making third start as a pro, and the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine against Y.E. Yang. He also lost a two-shot lead to Lee Westwood at a European Tour event in 2000. Now? “Simple math says that if I play a clean card, the guys behind me have to shoot 67 to force it into extra holes,” Woods said. “That helps. I don’t have to shoot 63 or 64 and hope I get help. This is a spot I’d much rather be in than four or five back.”