Tiger cedes ground in third round of Barclays

On Friday, Tiger Woods fought a balky back. On Saturday, it was a balky putter.

As a result, he’ll have to stage a big comeback Sunday to win The Barclays at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, N.Y., the first of four FedExCup playoff tournaments. For the first time in his professional career, Tiger three-putted four times.

“Trust me, I was certainly frustrated,” said Woods, who used 31 putts while shooting a 1-over-par 72.

Without question, the greens were quicker and crustier than the previous two rounds, especially if you finished above the hole.

“It’s unbelievable how slippery they were,” Tiger said. “It was totally different today. Balls ran out. Some greens were firm and some weren’t. It’s hard to explain how fast they got.”

Woods received treatment Friday night and before Saturday’s round for a stiff lower back and said it wasn’t a factor. He termed his ball-striking “beautiful,” although he hit 67 percent of the greens and 71 percent of the fairways in regulation.

“I played the round I needed to play; I didn’t putt the way I need to putt,” he said. “Take those four three-putts away and I’m right in the ballgame.”

Woods has a 54-hole score of 4-under 209 and is tied for 10th place, six strokes behind leader Sergio Garcia. However, he only has nine players in front of him.

“Nobody is running away with it,” said Woods.

Paired with Gary Christian, Tiger parred the first two holes, then bogeyed the par-3 third, sustaining his first three-putt of the tournament from 45 feet. After making a scrambling par at the par-5 fourth, where he made a nice up-and-down thanks to a perfectly-executed low bump-and-run shot, Woods broke through with a birdie at the par-4 fifth, sinking a 12-foot putt.

However, he dropped a stroke at the 408-yard, par-4 sixth, where he hit his approach shot 47 feet from the cup and three-putted again on the slick greens. At the par-5 seventh, Tiger came up just short of the green in two and knocked his third shot one foot from the cup for any easy birdie.

Woods also birdied the 210-yard, par-3 eighth, holing a 53-foot putt, his longest sink of the year, drawing a loud roar from the always vocal New York area fans. But he gave it right back with a three-putt bogey from 42 feet at the par-4 ninth and made the turn in even-par 36.

On the back nine, Tiger two-putted the par-4 10th hole from 24 feet for a par, then made good par saves at the par-4 11th and 12th holes, twice making seven-foot putts. At the 608-yard, par-5 13th, Woods hit a wonderful sand wedge from 101 yards three feet below the hole for an easy birdie.

However, he three-putted the short par-3 14th hole from 15 feet for a bogey, and also bogeyed the par-4 15th, a poor drive into the deep left rough contributing. Tiger had a chance to save par after a nice downhill chip, but couldn’t convert from eight feet.

At the 490-yard, par-4 16th, Woods knocked his second shot into the right greenside bunker and had a long third shot to the back pin. He hit a nice sand shot, blasting to four feet and made the par putt.

Tiger two-putted the par-3 17th and par-4 18th holes for pars.

“I just need to shoot a good round tomorrow and see what happens,” said Woods, the FedExCup points leader.

On Sunday, Tiger tees off at 12:20 p.m. ET with David Hearn.