Atlanta, Georgia – Tiger Woods shot a 5-under par 65 on Saturday at East Lake Golf Club and will take a three-shot lead into the final round of the Tour Championship.
Entering his third day in Atlanta tied for the lead at 7 under, Woods came out of the gate on fire, carding birdies on Nos. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 to quickly get to 13 under.
The 42-year old star cooled off, though, posting just one more birdie (No. 12) against two bogeys (Nos. 9 and 16) the rest of the way, to settle in at 12-under par.
“I felt hot early for sure. I was hitting it absolutely dead flush. The putts I was hitting were going in, and from there, I just tried to just hang in there and tried to make — I don’t know if I could add maybe one or two on that back nine, it would be great,” said Woods.
“But I figured the guys weren’t going to be doing much out there. You look at these hole locations before the day started, because we get them the night before, and I figured a low round would be 66 or 65 today, and I happened to be 6-under through 7, and I’m right where I need to be.”
Justin Rose, the overnight co-leader alongside Woods, got off to a bogey-bogey start, but finished his final 16 holes with just one more blemish while adding five birdies, en route to a 68.
The world No. 1 headlines the chasing pack at 9-under par alongside Rory McIlroy, who shot a 66 to on Saturday.
Jon Rahm (68) and Kyle Stanley (67) were six shots off the pace at 6-under par, one clear of Paul Casey (66), Tony Finau (67), and Billy Horschel (69), who were T6 at 5 under.
A logjam of five players were one further back at 4-under par, including Aaron Wise (67), Dustin Johnson (67), Gary Woodland (68), Xander Schauffele (68), and Justin Thomas (70).
2018 TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND THREE: TOP 5
Pos-Player-To Par-(Today)
1. Tiger Woods -12 (-5)
2. Rory McIlroy -9 (-4)
2. Justin Rose -9 (-2)
4. Jon Rahm -6 (-2)
4. Kyle Stanley -6 (-3)
FEDEXCUP PROJECTION AFTER ROUND 3
Where the FedExCup race stands after three rounds:
Proj FedExCup Pos-Player-Bonus-(Tournament Pos)
1. Justin Rose – $10m (T2)
2. Tiger Woods – $3m (1)
3. Bryson DeChambeau – $2m (T21)
4. Tony Finau – $1.5m (T6)
5. Justin Thomas – $1m (T9)
ROUND-3 VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
Highlights from the third round of the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club (via PGA Tour).
STAT LEADERS
Through 54 holes
DRIVING
1. Gary Woodland – 322.8 yards (T9)
2. Rory McIlroy – 315.1 yards (T2)
3. Bubba Watson – 313.6 yards (T27)
FAIRWAYS
1. Billy Horschel – 71.4%, 30/42 (T6)
2. Justin Rose – 66.7%, 28/42 (T2)
3. Tiger Woods – 64.3%, 26/42 (1)
3. Paul Casey – 64.3%, 26/42 (T6)
3. Gary Woodland – 64.3%, 26/42 (T9)
GREENS
1. Justin Rose – 81.5%, 44/54 (T2)
2. Rory McIlroy – 79.6%, 43/54 (T2)
3. Billy Horschel – 74.1%, 40/54 (T6)
PUTTS/GIR
1. Tiger Woods – 1.583 (1)
2. Jon Rahm – 1.590 (T4)
3. Kyle Stanley – 1.649 (T4)
3. Justin Thomas – 1.649 (T9)
LEADERS’ STATS
TIGER WOODS (-12)
Driving: 306.7 yards (10th)
Fairways: 64.3%, 27/42 (3rd)
Greens: 66.7%, 36/54 (13th)
Putts/GIR: 1.583 (1st)
Scoring: 1 Eagle, 16 Birdies, 32 Pars, 4 Bogeys, 1 Double Bogey
QUESTION FOR WOODS
Q: How much is getting in the lead and being in this position like old times, and how much of it do you have to re-learn, to get those feelings back?
WOODS: Good question because I’ve — you know, I’ve felt very comfortable when I got into the mix there at Tampa even though it was very early in my start to this year. And because of that, I felt comfortable when I got to Bay Hill, when I grabbed the lead at the Open Championship.
Things that didn’t really feel abnormal, even though it’s been years, literally years, since I’ve been in those spots, but I think I’ve been in those spots enough times that muscle memory — I guess I remembered it, and I felt comfortable in those spots.
Today was the same. I was tied for the lead going out. We’ve got a long way to go, and I got off to just an ideal start. I made one at 1 and made a nice curler there at 3, and the next thing you know I was off and running.
TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP TEE TIMES: ROUND 4
All times EST. From No. 1 Tee
TV: 1:30-6:00 pm (NBC)
11:45 am – Patrick Reed (+8), Phil Mickelson (+11)
11:55 am – Keegan Bradley (+5), Bubba Watson (+5)
12:05 pm – Brooks Koepka (+4), Francesco Molinari (+4)
12:15 pm – Kevin Na (+2), Patrick Cantlay (+2)
12:25 pm – Bryson DeChambeau (+2), Cameron Smith (+2)
12:35 pm – Jason Day (E), Rickie Fowler (E)
12:45 pm – Marc Leishman (E), Patton Kizzire (E)
12:55 pm – Tommy Fleetwood (-2), Hideki Matsuyama (-1)
1:05 pm – Justin Thomas (-4), Webb Simpson (-3)
1:15 pm – Gary Woodland (-4), Xander Schauffele (-4)
1:25 pm – Aaron Wise (-4), Dustin Johnson (-4)
1:35 pm – Billy Horschel (-5), Tony Finau (-5)
1:45 pm – Paul Casey (-5), Jon Rahm (-6)
1:55 pm – Justin Rose (-9), Kyle Stanley (-6)
2:05 pm – Rory McIlroy (-9), Tiger Woods(-12)
