Tiger cards 68, maintains seven-stroke lead at Firestone
Tiger Woods used another fast start to maintain his seven-stroke advantage after three rounds of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.
Woods followed up Friday’s course record-tying 9-under-par 61 with a 68 on Saturday and has a 54-hole score of 15-under 195. Henrik Stenson is his closest pursuer at 202.
“I was just trying to post something in the red today,” Woods said. “It was blowing today, and I figured anything in the red would be a good number.”
As Tiger did Friday, he tamed the first two holes, recording a pair of birdies. Paired with Keegan Bradley and Chris Wood, Woods made a 12-foot putt at the par-4 first, then reached the green in two at the par-5 second and easily two-putted from 40 feet.
Playing in warm, cloudy conditions, Tiger reeled off six consecutive pars, then bogeyed the par-4 ninth, where he drove into the steep face of the right fairway bunker, blasted down the fairway and failed to get up-and-down, turning in 1-under 34.
On the back nine, Woods started strong, curling in an eight-foot birdie putt at the par-4 10th. He two-putted the par-3 11th and par-4 12th holes for pars, then made a spectacular chip-in birdie at the 471-yard, par-4 13th. After a good drive, Woods missed the green to the left with a 7-iron from 170 yards, the ball rolling down a slope into thick rough. But he holed out his third shot from 40 feet for an improbable birdie, pumping his right fist.
Tiger was fortunate to escape the 467-yard, par-4 14th with a bogey. After driving into the left fairway bunker, his second shot slid way right into the trees, leaving a poor lie and swing in deep grass near roots. Woods punched his third shot low-right over the green, then did well to get up-and-down.
At the 200-yard, par-3 15th, Tiger came up just short of the green with his tee shot and elected to putt from there. He just missed the birdie try and made par.
For the second time in three days, Woods bogeyed the 667-yard, par-5 16th. He drove into the right fairway bunker, splashed his second shot into the right rough, had to lay up short of a fronting pond with his third shot and two-putted from 18 feet.
But Tiger rebounded with a birdie at the 400-yard, par-4 17th, where he split the fairway with an iron off the tee, then hit a beautiful 9-iron approach shot eight feet left of the cup and rolled in the putt.
A poor drive put Woods in scramble mode again at the 464-yard, par-4 18th, with his ball settling near a blue spruce tree. Tiger punched a 6-iron just short of the green, then pitched four feet short of the hole and made the par-saving putt to conclude a five-birdie, three-bogey round.
“Today was a day I didn’t quite have it, but I scored,” Woods said. “I just tried to build on my lead somehow.”
Woods seeks his fifth PGA TOUR victory of the year and eighth WGC-Bridgestone Invitational title on Sunday. He already owns a record 17 WGC titles in 41 starts and has 32 top-10 finishes.
Should Woods prevail, it will match his eight triumphs at Bay Hill, and represent his 79th career win, three shy of Sam Snead’s all-time record of 82.
The seven-stroke lead ranks as his fifth-highest 54-hole cushion. The others, all wins, include: the 2000 U.S. Open (10); the 2000 Bridgestone Invitational (9); the 1997 Masters (9); the 2008 Buick Invitational (8); and the 2009 BMW Championship (7).
A ferocious front-runner, Tiger tees off in the final twosome Sunday at 2:05 p.m. ET with Stenson. Woods is 52-4 when tied or leading after 54 holes on the PGA TOUR, and is 41-2 when holding the outright advantage.
