Tiger Woods inches towards winning first tournament
Thousand Oaks, California : It seems that iconic Golf player, Tiger Woods, aims at ending the year strongly and gain momentum for the next season as he inched one step closer to win his first tournament this year on Saturday in the Chevron World Challenge.
Tiger shot a 4-under-par 68 at overcast Sherwood Country Club, matching the best score of the day and has a 54-hole score of 17-under 199, four strokes ahead of Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland.
Woods, a four-time winner of the event, has never lost a pro tournament when leading by three or more strokes heading to the final round. His last professional victory came late last year at the JBWere Masters in Australia.
“I’m excited about tomorrow because of the way I’ve been playing,” he said on his official website.
“I’m excited about how I’m hitting the golf ball and how I’ve been managing my game around this golf course. You can have some big swings. Like today, potentially had some big swings that could have happened that didn’t. It’s going to be a fun test tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it.”
The last time Woods held sole possession of the lead in the first three rounds was at the 2009 PGA Championship. He has now shot eight consecutive rounds in the 60s at Sherwood, a personal-best for him in this event.
No player in the previous 11 Chevron World Challenges has won wire-to-wire. On Sunday, Woods will attempt to do it for the eighth time in his PGA Tour career.
“To be honest with you, I don’t look at it that way when I’m out there playing,” he said. “I’m just in the moment trying to put the golf ball on different sides of the fairway, where I need to put it on the green. I just play.”
Armed with a four-stroke lead over McDowell starting the day, Woods played in the final twosome with the U.S. Open champion, and the duo was trailed by an enormous gallery.
Following a par on the first hole, Woods bogeyed the par-5 second hole — which he eagled on Friday — after knocking his second shot into a hazard fronting the green.
“I was debating between a 6 and 7 on that shot, and went with a 7,” Woods said. “The wind was starting to pick up off the right. In the back of my mind, I just felt it was a smooth 6. But I went with 7 anyway and got it riding with the wind, and it was done.”
Woods steadied with two pars, then birdied the par-5 fifth hole. His second shot plugged in the front bunker, but he blasted out two feet from the hole.
At the par-4 sixth hole, Woods made a tricky downhill 20-foot birdie putt, the ball trickling into the front edge of the cup. He raised his putter with his left hand in celebration.
“It was a double-breaking putt,” Woods said. “To be honest with you, I thought I missed it because it was losing too much pace. It still hung in there somehow.”
He made his third straight birdie at the 446-yard, par-4 seventh, where he flagged his second shot from 138 yards three feet behind the hole and sunk the putt.
Woods did well to two-putt the tough, par-3 eighth hole from long range, then two-putted the par-4 ninth from about 25 feet and made the turn in 2-under 34.
At the short, par-4 10th, Woods hit a good drive, then caught a bad break when his sand wedge landed by the hole and spun off the green and into the rough. He composed himself and hit a beautiful flop shot within three feet of the cup for a saving par.
Woods recorded his fourth birdie of the day at the par-5 11th, where he sprayed his drive into dirt on the right but caught a good lie. From there, Woods hit a gorgeous low cut around trees, and the ball wound up 12 feet underneath the hole. He just missed his eagle attempt.
Woods two-putted the par-3 12th hole for a par, then failed to birdie the par-5 13th, where he missed the green left with his second shot, chopped his third shot from heavy rough 10 feet past the hole and two-putted.
Then came a key moment in his round. At the par-4 14th, Woods hit his second shot — the ball had mud on it into a left greenside bunker and had almost no chance to get the ball close to the pin. He blasted out about 18 feet past the hole and buried the par-saving putt.
“I got a funky break there at 14 picking up mud and then made a sweet putt,” he said.
For the first time all week, Woods three-putted the par-3 15th hole from about 50 feet. But he bounced right back with a birdie at the par-5 16th hole. His drive nearly found the left fairway bunker, so he was forced to lay up short of the green, — which he did perfectly — leaving a good angle to the pin from 108 yards. Woods judged the yardage to perfection, his wedge stopping three feet from the cup.
He made another tough two-putt at the par-3 17th, this time converting a four-foot par putt.
Then Woods finished in style, splitting the fairway with a fairway wood off the 18th tee. He nearly holed his second shot from 170 yards with an 8-iron, the ball stopping about a foot away from the hole for a tap-in birdie.
“Steve [Williams] and I were debating between 8 and 9, and we knew that by flushing 9, I could carry it to the top no problem,” Woods said. “I just wasn’t comfortable drawing a 9 off that lie, so my game plan was aim the 8 right at the flag. I just hit it dead straight.”
Woods continued his assault on the par-5s. He played them in 2-under Saturday and is a combined 12-under on them for the tournament.
“I just felt if I could take care of the par-5s — which I didn’t really do — I could shoot a pretty good number,” he said. “But 4-under is a good score. Tied Graeme today and no loss between my lead.”
Woods will tee off in the final twosome Sunday at 1:55 p.m. ET with McDowell. First place is worth $1.2 million, and proceeds benefit the Tiger Woods Foundation and other local charities.
“I’ve got 18 more holes, and it’s a process,” Woods said. “I know that we potentially could have some weather coming in here tomorrow, so got to be ready for that. I’m excited to go out there head-to-head with Graeme.”