Woods still in position to pounce after 68 at Doral

Tiger Woods continues to make steady progress towards his first PGA Tour victory in more than two years. It might not happen this week at the WGC-Cadillac Championship at the TPC Blue Monster in Doral, Fla., but it’s only a matter of time.

After leaning on his ball-striking in the first two rounds, Woods relied on his putter Saturday to shoot a 4-under-par 68. He used 23 putts and has a 54-hole score of 9-under 207, which is tied for eighth, eight strokes behind leader Bubba Watson.

“The scores being as low as they are, the winning score is probably going to be in the 20s,” said Woods, who made seven birdies and three bogeys. “So you’re going to have to take care of those par 5s.”

Paired with good friend Steve Stricker, Woods started with three consecutive birdies. He reached the par-5 first hole in two and two-putted for a birdie; drained an 18-foot birdie putt at the par-4 second; and hit a beautiful approach just outside two feet at the par-4 third.

Tiger followed with a two-putt par from 44 feet at the par-3 fourth.

At the par-4 fifth, he hit a nice drive, then flew his second shot into the back bunker. Woods blasted to two feet and saved par.

He carded his fourth birdie of the round at the 421-yard, par-4 sixth, where he hit a nice approach shot from 116 yards to nine feet and rolled in the putt. Woods saved par with a four-foot putt at the par-4 seventh.

Tiger’s front-nine charge lost steam at the reachable-in-two, 531-yard, par-5 eighth, where he hit a poor second shot left of the green. With little green to work with to the left pin placement, Tiger tried to flop his third shot over a bunker, but came up short in the sand. Woods left his fourth shot 12 feet short, and missed his par attempt.

At the 174-yard, par-3 ninth, Woods pulled a 7-iron into the water hazard on the left, and it looked like he would drop at least one stroke. After taking a drop and incurring a one-stroke penalty, Tiger chipped in for par from about 60 feet to make the turn in 3-under 33.

Woods birdied the par-5 10th hole, where he hit his second shot into the front-right bunker, blasted four feet beyond the cup and made the putt.

He made a nice two-putt par from 63 feet at the par-4 11th, then dropped a stroke at the par-5 12th.

At the latter, Woods blocked his drive way right into a bush and was forced to take an unplayable lie, resulting in a one-shot penalty. From there, he cut a nice 3-wood 90 yards short of the green, hit a poor sand wedge 18 feet below the hole, and missed his par attempt.

Woods made another scrambling par at the 230-yard, par-3 13th. He hit a 5-iron into the front-right bunker, hit an explosion shot 10 feet below the cup, and poured in the putt.

A poor tee shot led to a bogey at the par-4 14th. Woods almost regained the dropped shot at the par-4 15th, but was unable to convert from 12 feet below the hole. At the short par-4 16th, Tiger pounded a drive within 40 yards of the green, hit a nice sand wedge six feet from the cup, and made the birdie putt.

Woods gave himself another great birdie opportunity at the par-4 17th, where he hit a 9-iron from 148 yards to within 14 feet but missed the putt. Tiger finished strong with another mammoth drive at the demanding par-4 18th hole. He punched an 8-iron from 154 yards just inside four feet right of the cup and made the putt for a closing birdie.

“I just roasted it down there,” Woods said of his 307-yard drive at 18.

Woods said the turning point of his round came at the eighth hole, a hole he has struggled to tame in the past.

“I had it going in there and got it to 8 where I was — it was a very uncomfortable shot for me to hit,” said Woods of his second shot. “It’s a hard shot for me to take off and hit just a three-quarter 2-iron, but hit it up in the air, turn it, from right-to-left — that’s a hard shot for most people. And I’m like most people on that one. I bailed on it and ended up on a spot where it was burned out and I was afraid of landing it (third shot) on the green, rolling over in the water and hitting it in the bunker.”

Tee to green, Woods wasn’t as sharp as he was the first two rounds, hitting only 10 of 18 greens. He did, however, find 10 of 14 fairways.

Woods admitted the bogeys at No. 8 and No. 12 hurt him.

“It’s either I’m making birdies or I’m making bogeys or eagles,” he said.

Woods will tee off from No. 1 with Webb Simpson at 2 p.m. ET in the final round on Sunday.