Tiger shares the lead after three rounds at Sawgrass

Tiger Woods pulled into a tie for the lead early Sunday morning in THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. He played four holes on the Stadium Course to finish Saturday’s weather and darkness-delayed third round and wound up shooting a 1-under-par 71.

That left Tiger at 11-under 205, a score shared by PGA TOUR rookie David Lingmerth of Sweden and Sergio Garcia of Spain. Woods will begin final round play Sunday in the second-to-last twosome with Casey Wittenberg at 2:28 p.m. ET.

“It doesn’t matter,” Woods said of his tee time. “I’m tied for the lead. I’m right there and I’m playing well.”

Tiger resumed play in the fairway at the par-4 15th hole Sunday and hit a nice approach shot about 10 feet from the cup. His birdie putt looked true, but lipped out.

At the 496-yard, par-5 16th, Woods hit a good drive down the right side of the fairway and had 230 yards to the green. From there, he hit a 4-iron that almost flew into the hole and bounced over the green into the fringe. Tiger hit a nice chip three feet past the pin and converted the birdie putt.

Woods hit a nice sand wedge at the 122-yard, par-3 17th hole, which features an island green surrounded by water. The shot came up about 15 feet below the hole and his birdie putt burned the right edge of the cup, slipping past about three feet. Tiger polished off the par putt.

At the 473-yard, par-4 18th, Woods hit the fairway with a fairway wood, but his 6-iron approach shot from 214 yards found the front of the green, leaving about a 60-foot uphill putt. Tiger hit a beautiful lag to two feet and tapped in for a par.

A three-time winner on the PGA TOUR this year, Woods has won the last five times he has led or held a share of the 54-hole lead. For his career, Tiger has won 52 of 56 times on the PGA Tour when leading or tied after the third round, including 21 of the last 22 times.