Springfield, N.J. – Reaching Baltusrol’s 18th green three hours before the PGA Championship leaders were to begin their third round Saturday, Tiger Woods had a chance to make a statement with a 35-foot eagle attempt.
He three-putted for par.
“Welcome to golf, welcome to golf,” Woods said. “I wish we could putt well every day, but it doesn’t happen.”
Even with his final-hole sloppiness, Woods finished the day in 4-under-par 66. He climbed back to even par for the tournament but fell a stroke – or three-putt – shy of his stated goal of getting to red numbers after 54 holes. Woods headed to the locker room eight strokes off the lead held by Phil Mickelson.
Trying to become the first player to twice win three of the four modern majors in a calendar year, Woods played his first 26 holes at Baltusrol in 7-over par and went 7-under the next 26. That left par-5 birdie opportunities at Nos. 17 and 18.
Who could have guessed Woods would make no better than par on both?
He pulled a 3-wood second shot on the 650-yard 17th well left of the fairway. The ball sailed through the trees and into the gallery, where it rested under a portable chair used by a spectator. The rules of golf allowed Woods to remove the chair, but he could only punch out with his third shot and failed to make birdie.
Woods couldn’t have begun the 554-yard 18th much better. He split the fairway with his drive and, using a 7-iron, flew his approach shot directly over the flag, almost hitting the fabric. Facing a downhill 35-footer, Woods obviously didn’t want to leave his eagle attempt short. But he had a brain lock or was too aggressive.
His first putt rolled 15 feet past. The comebacker for birdie had the right pace but veered right of the cup.
“It was just a bad putt at the wrong time,” Woods said.
Woods also missed birdie opportunities from 6 feet on No. 12 and 10 feet on No. 13. His birdies included a chip-in on 10, a 10-footer on 14 and a 12-footer on 15.
Woods called it his best ball-striking round in at least two months. That includes the British Open.
“I’m disappointed because I had opportunities on the back nine to be at least three shots better,” he said. “If I play like I did today and make some putts, I can shoot a low one.”
Woods had his moments on the greens. He needed only 26 putts Saturday, nine fewer than in his opening round. He still must improve his accuracy from off the tee. Woods hit eight of 14 fairways and is averaging 7.3 for the tournament.
“If you play well, you can shoot a good number out here,” he said. “But if you get it going a little crooked, it’s hard to make pars.”
…
Tee times – No. 1 tee
6 a.m. – Hal Sutton
6:10 a.m. – Darrell Kestner, Mike Small
6:20 a.m. – John Daly, Kevin Sutherland
6:30 a.m. – Scott McCarron, Sean O’Hair
6:40 a.m. – Joe Durant, Steve Webster
6:50 a.m. – Mark Calcavecchia, Ron Philo Jr.
7 a.m. – Henrik Stenson, Carlos Franco
7:10 a.m. -Heath Slocum, Ryan Palmer
7:20 a.m. – Paul Casey, Bob Estes
7:30 a.m. – Peter Hanson, Ben Crane
7:40 a.m. – Luke Donald, Steve Schneiter
7:50 a.m. – Jose Maria Olazabal, Adam Scott
8 a.m. – Mike Weir, Patrick Sheehan
8:10 a.m. – Y.E. Yang, Vaughn Taylor
8:20 a.m. – K.J. Choi, Mark Hensby
8:30 a.m. – Paul McGinley, Fredrik Jacobson
8:50 a.m. – Tim Clark, Scott Verplank
9 a.m. – Fred Couples, Ted Purdy
9:10 a.m. – Stephen Ames, J.L. Lewis
9:20 a.m. – Sergio Garcia, Zach Johnson
9:30 a.m. – Miguel Angel Jimenez, Todd Hamilton
9:40 a.m. – John Rollins, Rory Sabbatini
9:50 a.m. – Bernhard Langer, Chris Riley
10 a.m. – Ian Poulter, Chad Campbell
10:20 a.m. – David Toms, Jim Furyk
10:30 a.m. – Trevor Immelman, Shingo Katayama
10:40 a.m. – Arron Oberholser, Joe Ogilvie
10:50 a.m. – Woody Austin, Tom Pernice Jr.
11 a.m. – Geoff Ogilvy, Fred Funk
11:10 a.m. – Steve Flesch, Michael Campbell
11:20 a.m. – Jerry Kelly, Tiger Woods
11:30 a.m. – Kenny Perry, Jesper Parnevik
11:50 a.m. – Dudley Hart, Charles Howell III
Noon – Bo Van Pelt, Stewart Cink
12:10 p.m. – Lee Westwood, Greg Owen
12:20 p.m. – Jason Bohn, Retief Goosen
12:30 p.m. – Vijay Singh, Ben Curtis
12:40 p.m. – Steve Elkington, Stuart Appleby
12:50 p.m. – Thomas Bjorn, Pat Perez
1 p.m. – Davis Love III, Phil Mickelson
