May 13 (UPI) -- Tiger Woods fired a 7-under-par 65 in the third round of the 2018 Players Championship, his lowest round ever at the tournament.
Woods carded the score Saturday at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. He finished the day tied for ninth place. Woods carded a 72 in the first round and handed in a 71 in round two on Friday.
"Eventually I was going to put all the pieces together," Woods said, according to his website."Today, for the most part, I did."Webb Simpson still leads the field at 19-under-par. Simpson shot a 66 in the first round before rounds of 63 and 68 entering Sunday's final round. Simpson's 63 was a course record."Did he just check that ball up on the downslope?""He did."#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/PueHn7U9Xk— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 12, 2018
"I think with the golf course ... I'm playing late," Simpson told reporters. "It's going to be firm and fast. A few of the hardest pins they've used already and I saw the pins for tomorrow so I don't think it will be setup that much harder.""Sunday you've got to give the course a little more respect. I wanted to do that today. I wanted to hit away from the pins unless I had a sand wedge in my hand."Woods tees off with Jordan Spieth at 2:05 p.m. on Sunday. He won the tournament in 2001 and in 2013.
He's walking them in.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/aYsPCrMJaaPGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 12, 2018His third round included eight birdies and one pogey. He made par nine times.Rarely has the Saturday morning of a golf tournament – outside of the Ryder Cup, of course – witnessed such drama. Tiger Woods made it a sight for Sawgrass eyes as he shot a 65, his lowest score this year and his lowest round at the Players Championship
Talk about taking an opportunity. Never mind the stunning transformation of Woods in the last 12 months – from the drug-addled mess found slumped over a steering wheel by the police to serious competitor – this was a stunning turnaround in less than 24 hours. On Friday evening, it appeared as if Woods was missing the cut on one-under, but bogeys on the last from both Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, as well as a water ball on the 17th from JJ Henry, allowed the 14-time major winner to scrape into the weekend.
The 42-year-old never did require a second invitation. He began the day in a tie for 68th and when he signed for seven-under – which was his lowest score to par at any event in five years – he was up into a tie for eighth on eight-under. Yet it says plenty about this man’s enduring expectations and, indeed, his competitive spirit, that there was a slight sense of disappointment, despite him only being in the eighth tournament after his comeback from all those years of back agony.
As he made his way to the clubhouse he looked up at the leaderboard and saw he was seven behind halfway leader Webb Simpson – who was not due to go out for another 90 minutes – and felt it could have been better.
“I hit a lot of quality shots and 65 was probably as high as I could have shot today,” Woods said. “I mean to be eight-under through 12, realistically I probably could have got to 10-under for the day. Eventually I was going to put all the pieces together and today for the most part I did that.”It began with a 15-footer for birdie on the first and by the turn there were five more red figures on his scorecard as he made 20-footers on the fifth and seventh. His outward half of 30 has only once been bettered in 44 years of the Players and that was by Martin Kaymer who made a 29 on his march to victory in 2014. But the most impressive fact was that he took only 11 putts on this nine holes and there was only one up-and-down as he hit eight of the greens in regulation. Even Tiger in his pomp would have been immensely proud of that stat.
Woods maintained the momentum with a birdie on the par-five 11th and then a nine-footer for birdie on the par-fourth 12th. He was eight-under for the day at that point and the course record of 62 was on his compass.
Alas, a bogey on the 14th stalled his charge and he failed to make a birdie on the par-five 16th, as an eight-footer lipped out. “I wish I could have made that one,” he said.
It was not just Woods driving these huge galleries wild, but Spieth as well. The 24-year-old also shot a 65 to advance to eight-under and that, in itself, is a yet more remarkable about-face after he shot a 75 in the opening round. Spieth could “only” reach the turn in two-under, but birdied six of the last eight holes.
The experience reminded him of his final-round 64 at Augusta last month, when he pushed Patrick Reed all the way despite starting nine behind. Spieth declared he was “playing with house money” on that occasion.
“Yeah, pretty similar,” he said. “I am going to go out with the utmost confidence tomorrow to make some noise. I have nothing to lose. I was 14 back starting today and anything inside a top 10 is an incredible feat from that far back.”
England’s Ian Poulter and Tommy Fleetwood are also on eight-under after a 69 and 68 respectively. Poulter, who finished runner-up here last year, was in a tie for second until taking a double-bogey on the 18th, after taking two to get out of a greenside bunker.
It is an understatement to say he was angry. “I’m p----- off, really p----- off,” Poulter said. “I’m seething. Fair enough, if you get a double if you go in the water there, but from a bunker? If I had 50 attempts from where I was, I wouldn’t make double again. But I managed to do it right there.”Webb Simpson took a commanding five-shot lead heading into Saturday at the 2018 Players Championship, as he shot a remarkable 63 on Friday to move to 15 under for the tournament.
The chasing pack is full of quality. Charl Schwartzel finished Day 2 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, sitting tied-second after a 66, Jason Day is at eight under and world No. 1 Dustin Johnson is at seven under with Sergio Garcia.
Tiger Woods will be sticking around for the weekend's action but only just scraped by the one-under cut-line, after rounds of 72 and 71, along with pre-tournament favourites Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas.
Rickie Fowler, Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama and Phil Mickelson all missed the cut after failing to finish Friday under par for the tournament.
For the full leaderboard, visit PGATour.com.The chase for a title comes down to four teams. Two hope to make fourth consecutive trips to the NBA Finals. One underdog continues it's admirable run. A new backcourt duo looks to dethrone the champions.
What's the fate of each remaining team?
The Cleveland Cavaliers reworked the roster throughout the year around LeBron James. The makeshift group gained a confidence boost after sweeping the No. 1-seeded Toronto Raptors. How far does this unit reach with their superstar leading the way?
Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens has pushed all the right postseason buttons with the guys available to play. Will the absence of his star players finally factor into the series outcome against the Cavaliers?
Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey acquired Chris Paul in an effort to put an end to the Golden State Warriors' dominance in the Western Conference. Do James Harden, Paul and a plethora of three-point shooters have enough to stop a developing dynasty in the Bay Area?
