Tiger keeps pace Saturday with 2-under 70

Tiger Woods lost two strokes before he even teed off Saturday, but rebounded to shoot a 2-under-par 70 at sunny Augusta National Golf Club. He was assessed a two-stroke penalty — which he acknowledged was deserved — for an improper drop and rules violation on the 15th hole Friday, turning a 71 into a 73.

“Absolutely,” said Tiger who never considered withdrawing. “I made a mistake.”

That dropped Woods from a seventh-place tie, three strokes behind Jason Day, into a tie for 19th, five shots back. But he made up a stroke Saturday and has a 54-hole score of 3-under 213, which is tied for seventh, four strokes behind co-leaders Brandt Snedeker and Angel Cabrera.

A four-time winner of the green jacket, Tiger will attempt to capture his first major title coming from behind. In all 14 of his previous major wins, he led or shared the 54-hole lead.

“I’m right there in the ballgame,” said Woods, who will be looking to break 70 for the first time in seven rounds at Augusta National. “I still have a great chance to win this championship.”

Paired with Gonzalo-Fernandez-Castano of Spain, Woods birdied the testy, uphill 445-yard, par-4 first hole, where he flagged his approach shot three feet above the cup and made the putt. He gave himself another good chance at the downhill, 575-yard, par-5 second, but missed an eight-foot putt. It marked his third-straight par on the hole.

Tiger parred the short par-4 third hole, then bogeyed the 233-yard, downhill, par-3 fourth. His tee shot failed to hold the green and he was unable to get up-and-down, lipping out his par attempt.

Woods parred the next two holes, then birdied the 450-yard, par-4 seventh hole for the second-consecutive day. This time, he hit a beautiful approach shot nine feet above the cup and curled in the slick right-to-left putt.

Tiger gave himself another great birdie chance at the uphill 570-yard, par-5 eighth. After a good drive, he hit a long iron just right of the green, short-siding himself from the front-right pin. Woods hit a brilliant mini-flop shot three feet left of the hole, but his tough luck continued, the birdie putt circling the entire cup before lipping out.

“Never seen a ball do that,” he said.

After a poor drive into the right trees at the par-4 ninth, Tiger hit a low cut shot short-left of the green, leaving another difficult pitch to the middle-left pin placement. From there, he hit a lovely uphill flop shot that landed in the left fringe and released 10 feet right of the cup — about the best he could do — then two-putted for a bogey for make the turn in a disappointing even-par 36.

Looking to play the back nine under par for the first time this week, Woods did well to two-putt the par-4 10th hole from well above the hole, leaving his speedy downhill birdie putt about five feet short of the front-right pin. At the 505-yard, par-4 11th, the start of Amen Corner, Tiger hit a nice approach shot but three-putted for the third time in the tournament and sustained a bogey.

Needing to make a move, Woods did just that at the 155-yard, par-3 12th, where swirling winds usually play havoc with club selection. Tiger judged it well, sticking his tee shot 18 feet left of the cup and rolled in the birdie putt.

After a nice birdie at the par-5 13th, Woods parred the par-4 14th. He piped a great drive at the par-5 15th hole and reached the green in two with a wonderful second shot, the ball finishing 14 feet left of the hole. He just missed his eagle attempt but secured his birdie.

At the par-3 16th, Tiger found a greenside bunker for the second day in a row, but saved par again. He hit an errant drive at the par-4 17th and knocked his second shot into the front bunker. But he hit a marvelous explosion shot and escaped with another scrambling par.

Tiger missed the fairway to the left at the par-4 18th hole, and his approach shot came up short of the green. His chip came up 12 feet short, but once again, the grinding Woods rose to the occasion and poured in the par-saving putt. The 2-under 34 marked the first time he has broken par this week on the back nine.

Tiger learned of his two penalty strokes about three hours before his tee time in a meeting with the Masters’ Rules Committee. He admitted it disrupted his normal pre-round routine, but respected their decision and adjusted accordingly.

“I was ready to play come game time,” said Woods, who hit 11 of 18 greens and 6 of 14 fairways in regulation and used 28 putts.

On Sunday, Tiger tees off at 2:10 p.m. ET with Tim Clark of South Africa.