The Players Championship: Tiger Woods Posts Even Par In Third Round

Tiger Woods hits his tee shot on the ninth hole during the third round of THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass on May 12, 2012.

By Ryan Ballengee, Golf Channel

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – On Moving Day at The Players Championship, Tiger Woods stood still.

Despite an excellent performance from tee to green, Woods shot even-par 72 to remain at 2 under through three rounds on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.

"I played well today and didn't get anything out of it," Woods said. "It was probably the most solid I've hit the golf ball all year, probably."

Blustery conditions reigned on Saturday at Pete Dye's gem, gusting as high as 20 mph at several points in the round. Woods handled the swirling winds well, landing on 15 greens and hitting 10 of 14 fairways.

The story of Woods' round, however, was told on the greens. Woods converted just a pair of birdie opportunities, requiring 33 putts.

"I misread two putts, which was fine and I hit two other bad putts," he said. "It was just tough getting the ball close. I had a hard time, but some of the other guys probably did not."

On the front nine, Woods had no trouble hitting it close. Rather, the difficulty came in converting the opportunities his approach game created.

Woods had birdie putts from inside 17 feet on the final four holes of the side, making none. He missed on the edge from 6 feet at No. 6, three-putted from 10 feet at the seventh, could not bag another 6-footer at the par-3 eighth and failed to drop a birdie bid from 13 feet at the ninth.

The chances to score were more sparse on the second nine, despite Woods hitting every fairway and missing just the 10th green. Woods had to hit a perfect flop shot from beyond and below the green at the par-5 11th for a tap-in birdie, then made a 16-foot putt for another at the 13th after backing off his tee shot twice to figure out the wind.

Despite the lack of birdies, Woods had a pair of excellent lag putts from 78 feet at No. 14 and a putt similar to the "better than most" bid from 2001 at 17. Pars were not what Woods needed, however, and he will be left Sunday to find his first top-10 finish here since 2009.

"I figured if I shot 68 or 67, I'd be right in the ball game," he said. "There's so much danger out there. This golf course was set up today so that you could shoot 65, but then again, you could shoot something in the 80s."

Following a pair of withdrawals in this championship, perhaps the takeaway for Woods is having the health and stamina to reach the finish line. Last week, he made a confident step, changing back to metal spikes in his golf shoes.

"My knee is finally healthy enough," he said, "to take the pounding."

"Woods posts even par in third round," by Ryan Ballengee appears courtesy of Golf Channel.

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Comments

[goldengirl43]

11:45 AM on 05/13/2012

When the putting goes, you are DONE as a golfer. Happened to Watson at about the the same age as Tiger. Fortunately we're getting some good young players from the USA and all over the world to keep things interesting.

[PackFlats]

09:34 AM on 05/13/2012

Tiger made one of his patented moves , he was 43rd in the field a move took him to 34th a standard Tiger is know for a six or seven place move the only difference is now his golf game is middle of the pack caliber so his move was middle of the pack.

[Leilani lei]

03:06 AM on 05/13/2012

Of all Sports, why do Golpher's have the most unattractive bodies. With all that walking they do, they just don't look fit. I see quite a bit of muffin tops and love handles.

[George Picard]

09:21 AM on 05/13/2012

Its the 19th hole that kills us.

[Leilani lei]

10:34 AM on 05/13/2012

lol

[plzchuteme]

12:24 AM on 05/13/2012

Looks like Tiger is set to win his second tournament this spring. How can he miss? It appears that he is the only one playing.

[George Picard]

09:22 AM on 05/13/2012

Now that is funny, I dont think the HP is aware of any other golfers in the world.

[Billk29]

10:31 AM on 05/13/2012

Golf World magazine website is the same.They have a Tiger Tracker even if its to track him from 43rd place to 35th place.

[Creox]

10:40 PM on 05/12/2012

My question is. Why is Tiger being followed, talked about, written about when he hasn't won in such a long time? why are the other players BEATING him being talked about? Media is so incredibly lame.

[Bados]

01:43 AM on 05/13/2012

People are always gonna wonder how the best to ever do it is fairing when he plays. This isnt a hard concept to grab. Also there are only 6 players ahead of him and 3 didnt make the cut in this tournament. Lastly no one outside of golf cares about golfers. The general public just doesnt relate to players of a sport they cant generally afford to play. Tiger is the only thing interesting in golf. Rory is dating a girl who was the #1 tennis player in the world when he became #1 and the PGA could build around that hype. They tried and no one cared. That's why they arent being talked about. The media's unending love of Phil Mickelson should give you comfort.

[Creox]

12:17 PM on 05/13/2012

Media manipulation gives me gas. I don't have a problem with them covering Tiger per se it's just that is ALL you see in the paper or TV. It's ridiculous. If that is the only way they can maintain interest in the sport then they are in big trouble when he retires or gets shot by some jealous boyfriend.

[Reggie Licious]

07:40 AM on 05/13/2012

His last win is only a couple of months ago, he's listed in the top ten of the OWGR, and his appearance alone increases visitors' numbers by 20 - 50%. Oh - and he's the guy with most majors of those currently playing. That's why he's covered by the media, that's why people click on stories. Like it or not - he's the guy people know.

[Creox]

12:13 PM on 05/13/2012

Too bad. And I don't like it but there ya go.

[FreedToChoose]

10:31 PM on 05/12/2012

Yep. Solid round on a tough course. He may never win again, but I like the fact that he is focused on what's important. He's had a solid par round... two birds, two bogies.

Looking at the top ranked players:
1 - McIlroy (cut)
2 - Donald (-3)
3 - Westwood (-1)
4 - Watson (did not play)
5 - Mahan (cut)
6 - Stricker (cut)
7 - Woods (-2)
8 - Kaymer (-4)
9 - Simpson (cut)
10 - Mickelson (-4)

It's been tough on top players.