Tiger Woods rides rollercoaster third round at Masters as he struggles for consistency
By Ben Morse, CNN
Tiger Woods’ incredible Masters journey continued on Saturday as he had a rollercoaster third round at Augusta National.
The 15-time major winner defied the odds and made the cut on Friday, carding a two-over-par 74 after an up-and-down round.
Woods has already achieved much more than what many thought he could as he makes his first appearance in competitive golf since his February 2021 car crash.
Woods carded a six-over par 78 on Saturday, finishing on seven-over par after a round mixed with bogeys, birdies and double bogeys.
He is almost certainly too far behind the leaders to be in contention, but his appearance alone at the Masters has delighted players and fans alike.
Trooping on
Woods began his third round nine shots, playing alongside fellow American Kevin Kisner, behind runaway leader Scottie Scheffler, who finished the second round with a five-shot lead.
Although the five-time Masters champion would have been hoping for a strong start to really make a charge, his Saturday got off to a bad start as he bogeyed the opening hole to fall to two-over for the tournament.
But, showing signs of his fighting spirit, Woods bounced back immediately.
An excellent bunker shot that clipped the lip of the hole gave him a short put to card a birdie to once again drop him to one-over. A steady par on the next hole kept him ticking along while the wind picked up and the patrons bundled up against the cold temperatures.
However, similar to his round yesterday, Woods’ third round started with an up-and-down nature. After parring the fourth, he missed three close-range putts — including two from very close in — as he double-bogeyed to dent his title hopes.
According to the PGA Tour, his four-putt was just his second at the Masters, with his first coming in the first round in 2005 on the 13th hole.
And his round continued to unravel on the ninth hole as his putt to save par slid to the left of the hole, meaning he slipped to four over, way behind leader Scheffler.
It looked like his time at Augusta National might be beginning to unravel with another bogey at the 11th hole, but a superb tee shot on the tricky 12th set up a birdie, which was received with huge roars from the patrons, almost urging a Woods comeback.
Those cheers were rewarded with another Woods birdie, following an excellent second shot which left him a manageable two putt to climb back up the leaderboard.
However, from there, his round unraveled, with two successive bogeys on No. 16 and No. 17 before another double bogey on the final hole.
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