Tiger cards 1-over 72 in Round 3 at Deutsche Bank
Even with his 6-year-old daughter Sam rooting from the gallery, Tiger Woods couldn’t get untracked Sunday in the third round of the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston in Norton, Mass.
Benefitting from the lift, clean and place rule after overnight and morning rain, Tiger still struggled to a 1-over-par 72 in Round 3 of the second of four FedExCup Playoffs events.
“I didn’t play very well today,” a frustrated Woods said afterward. “I didn’t hit it well and I didn’t make anything.”
Tiger has a 54-hole score of 6-under 207. Sergio Garcia of Spain remains the leader at 19-under 194.
Rain and lightning delayed the start of the third round. Tournament officials decided to re-group players in threesomes and start off the first and 10th tees. Grouped with Hunter Mahan and Kevin Stadler, Tiger recorded four bogeys and three birdies.
After parring the first hole, Woods hit two good shots at the 559-yard, par-5 second hole and wound up two-putting for birdie from 22 feet. He followed with two straight pars, then bogeyed the 470-yard, par-4 fifth. Tiger flew his approach shot from 189 yards over the green into thick rough. He tried to flop his third shot onto the green, but came up short. He got up-and-down to prevent further damage.
Woods finished off the front nine with four consecutive pars. Typical of how his day went, he hit a good drive and a beautiful approach at the 466-yard, par-4 ninth, the ball stopping seven feet from the cup. But he couldn’t convert the birdie attempt and made the turn in even-par 36.
At the 417-yard, par-4 10th, Woods drove into the hazard on the right and sustained his second bogey of the day. He missed the green to the right at the 231-yard, par-3 11th and couldn’t get up-and-down, failing on a 10-foot putt.
Tiger carded his third bogey in a row at the 460-yard, par-4 12th. He knocked his second shot long, ran his chip 10 feet past the hole and two-putted.
Woods rebounded with a birdie at the 444-yard, par-4 13th. After driving into the right rough, he flagged his second shot from 133 yards to three feet from the cup and made the birdie putt.
Tiger parred Nos. 14 and 15, then hit a wonderful 9-iron from 146 yards to the water-guarded par-3 16th, the ball spinning back five-and-a-half feet from the hole. He polished off the birdie putt.
Woods gave himself another good birdie chance at the 409-yard, par-4 17th, but was unable to sink a 10-foot putt. At the par-5 18th, he hit a good drive and came up just short of the green in two. Electing to putt, he came up 18 feet short of the hole and lipped out his birdie bid.
“The course is gettable, that’s for sure,” Woods said. “You could be aggressive and not worry about anything.”
Tiger’s statistics told the story of his round. He hit only seven of 14 fairways and 12 of 18 greens in regulation and needed 31 putts. Woods didn’t make a putt longer than seven feet.
“I just didn’t have it today,” said Tiger, a five-time winner on the PGA TOUR this year. “Just one of those days.”
Tee times for Monday’s final round have been moved up due to the threat of more inclement weather. Woods is scheduled to begin play at 8:40 a.m. ET on the 10th tee with Ryan Moore and Richard H. Lee.
