Woods falters, Hoffman remains steady
NASSAU, Bahamas — Tiger Woods fell behind early and never recovered. Charley Hoffman pulled away late and made himself hard to beat.
Hoffman handled the blustery conditions Saturday in the Hero World Challenge for a two-underpar 70, one of only five rounds under par, and built a five-shot lead going into the final round at Albany Golf Club.
Woods went 11 consecutive holes without hitting a green in regulation. He went 14 holes until making his first birdie. He had to settle for a 75, leaving him 10 shots out of the lead and finding consolation in the way he feels and the way he fought to keep it from getting worse.
“It’s nice to be part of the fight again,” Woods said. “Fighting against the golf course, fighting against the guys, that’s fun. I just haven’t done it a whole lot in the last few years.”
The strong wind took the air out of any hopes that Woods, playing for the first time in 10 months after a fourth back surgery, might even get into contention. He opened with rounds of 69 and 68. And then a warm afternoon brought a cold dash of reality.
“It’s ridiculous it took me 14 holes to make a birdie,” Woods said. “At that time, I’d already played four par-fives and nothing happened. Just one of those days. Anything I did right ended up in a bad spot, and then everything I did wrong, it was really bad.”
No one in the 18-man field broke 70.
Hoffman had a few nervous moments but paid for it only once. He send his tee shot far right into the bushes on a sand dune right of the 10th fairway. He took a penalty drop onto a sandy path and had a double bogey that brought half a dozen players back into the mix.
He had three birdies in his last five holes, including the 18th hole for the second day in a row. That put him at 14-under 202.
Justin Rose had a 71 and joined Jordan Spieth, who shot a 72, at nine-under 207.
“I got lucky on some tee balls that didn’t find the bushes and stayed in the sandy areas and I was able to sort of scrap it around,” Hoffman said.