Tiger takes lead after third round at Arnold Palmer
Tiger Woods rode a hot putter to the top of the leaderboard Saturday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club & Lodge in humid and cloudy Orlando, Fla. He equaled the low round of the day with a 6-under-par 66 and has a 54-hole score of 11-under 205, two strokes ahead of Rickie Fowler, John Huh and Justin Rose.
Woods, seeking his eighth victory at Bay Hill, which would tie Sam Snead’s record for most wins in the same tournament, has thrived as a closer. He’s won 51 of 55 times on the PGA TOUR when tied or leading after 54 holes, including 20 of the last 21.
“I played halfway decent,” said Woods. “Made a few putts. That was the key today.”
Tiger, who used only 25 putts, leads the field in strokes gained putting, putts made over 15 feet and putts made from 10-to-15 feet (11 of 13). He also eagled a par 5 for the third-straight day.
Paired with Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano of Spain, a six-time winner on the European Tour, Woods wanted a strong start after closing Friday’s second round with three consecutive bogeys. As it turned out, he had to grind for a par. Tiger drove into the right fairway bunker, came up 41 yards short of the green, punched a sand wedge 11 feet from the cup and made the putt.
“You don’t want to make four bogeys in a row,” he said with relief.
Following long two-putt pars at the second and third holes, Tiger birdied the par-5 fourth, sticking his third shot from 126 yards eight feet from the hole. He made a nice up-and-down to save par at the par-4 fifth, then reached the par-5 sixth in two with a 5-wood and two-putted for a birdie from 35 feet.
At the 199-yard, par-3 seventh, Woods flagged a 7-iron two feet from the pin and easily converted for birdie. Then it got interesting.
Tiger missed the green with his short approach shot to the par-4 eighth, finding the back bunker. He blasted just inside seven feet of the cup and saved par. At the 444-yard, par-4 ninth, Woods pulled his drive left and it seemed destined to go out of bounds. However, his ball clipped a tree and dropped down in the spongy rough, where he gouged his second shot 71 yards short of the green, hit a brilliant knock-down sand wedge just inside four feet from the hole and stole a par to make the turn in 3-under 33.
Tiger piped his tee shot down the fairway at the 400-yard, par-4 10th, then stiffed a sand wedge 1 1/2 feet from the cup. After tapping in his birdie putt, he missed a great birdie chance at the 426-yard, par-4 11th, where he nestled his approach shot five feet from the flag but missed the putt.
Unable to birdie the par-5 12th, Woods made his lone bogey of the round at the 370-yard, par-4 13th, where he drove into the left fairway bunker, hit a pitching wedge into the back bunker, blasted 27 feet from the hole and two-putted.
At the 215-yard, par-3 14th, Tiger smoothed a 4-iron that carried too far into the back bunker. With little green to work with, he hit a beautiful sand shot that burned the left edge of the cup, settling for a par.
Woods rolled in a 17 1/2-foot birdie putt at the 467-yard, par-4 15th hole, then looked to gain revenge on the last three holes.
He pounded a 312-yard drive at the 511-yard, par-5 16th and hit a majestic second shot from 183 yards about 20 feet below the hole. Tiger poured in the uphill right-to-left putt for eagle, pumping his right fist. The last player to make three eagles during the same week at Bay Hill was Phil Mickelson in 2001.
Moving to the tough 214-yard, par-3 17th — a hole Woods had bogeyed in each of his first two rounds — Tiger had a lengthy wait before the group in front cleared, then hit a towering 7-iron onto the center of the green. Woods nearly buried the 45-foot birdie putt, the ball rolling across the right side of the hole, but happily departed with a par.
Woods bogeyed the 458-yard, par-4 18th hole Thursday and Friday, driving into the right rough, but flushed his tee shot down the center of the fairway Saturday. Unfortunately for Tiger, the ball settled into a sand-filled divot, a bad break, especially with water lurking right of the green.
Woods made good contact with a 9-iron and tried to find the left side of the green, but the ball sailed into the left bunker. Now faced with a slick, downhill sand shot toward the water, Tiger hit a nice explosion eight feet past the pin and stroked in the clutch par putt.
“It was just outside the right edge,” he said. “As it lost its pace, it dove left.”
Woods tees off Sunday in the final twosome with Fowler at 1:40 p.m. ET. The last time they played together in the final group was at the 2012 Memorial Tournament, which Tiger won.
Although he has been nearly unstoppable at Bay Hill, winning seven of 15 starts as a professional, and is coming off a victory at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, Tiger is taking nothing for granted.
“The objective is to put yourself in position to win the golf tournament and somehow get it done on Sunday,” said Woods. “Over the course of my career, I’ve done a pretty decent job of that.”
Should Tiger secure his third win of the season, he will regain the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time since Oct. 30, 2010.
