The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Putter gives Tigers fits, yet he's just four shots behind leader Koepka
ST. knew He yards struck LOUIS on the the it — shot pure Tiger 17th was from hole Woods good. 240 and started fairway, strutting watching down the ball the land one good 20 feet putt from away the from pin an — him eagle into that second would have place. vaulted was And bad. Woods He muscled knew the it 3 putt feet past the hole, then pulled the comebacker off line and, after settling for a disappointing par, he briefly grabbed the putter with both hands, as if to bend it, before decid- ing better of it.
That par was the most disappointing of the 10 straight Woods made to finish his third round Saturday at the PGA Championship. He shot 4-under 66 to reach 8 under. That was four back of leader Brooks Koepka — well within striking range, but not as good as it might’ve been.
“Could’ve been a little closer,” I’ve tomorrow.” got Woods a shot going said. “But into For the third straight day at the wide-open, squishy Bellerive Country Club, Woods hit the ball well from tee to green — he hit 15 greens in regulation — and looked every bit the contender he was three weeks ago at the British Open, where the cheers seemed louder and more heartfelt than they’d been in the past. It’s been much the same this week in St. Louis. “Hearing the crowd, and Tiger’s performing great, it was like turning back the hands of the clock,” said Stewart Cink, who played with Woods and also shot 4 under to also finish four out of the lead. But Tiger’s putter? It brought more moans than cheers to the fans, a nd more frustration than joy to Woods. He has not made a putt of longer than 17 feet over three days, and has only made five putts of more than 10 feet all week. As Saturday’s round wore on, he was con- sistently coming up short as the already soft greens got even slower; he had six birdie tries of 20 feet or less over the back nine and didn’t make one.
But it doesn’t mean he won’t have a chance to catch Koepka, who got to 13 under before he showed glimpses of a struggle — making backto-back bogeys on 14 and 15 to come back to the field. Koepka closed with a twoshot lead over Adam Scott, with three more players at 9 under separating Koepka from Woods.
“The golf course is playing soft, it’s gettable, you have to make birdies,” Woods said.
Because of storms that took him off the course in the middle of his second round Friday and brought him back for a 7 a.m. restart Saturday, the 42-year-old Woods put his surgically repaired back through 29 holes over 10 hours in hot, sticky weather. He not only changed shirts this time, he changed colors — from a gray-and-white striped design early in the round to royal blue.
“It’s not necessarily the physical, it’s mentally grinding that hard for 29 holes in this heat,” he said.