Tiger Tracker: Third-round 65 earns Woods a three-shot lead at Tour Championship

Adam Woodard USA TODAY

Published 6:33 PM EDT Sep 22, 2018

Tiger Woods has one last chance to notch a win in his most-recent comeback.

Tiger is back on the course this weekend at Atlanta's East Lake Golf Club for the Tour Championship, the final PGA Tour event of the year and the finale of the FedExCup Playoffs.

Woods started off on *fire* Saturday, making birdie in six of his first seven holes. He settled in from there and worked his way to a third-round 65, which earned him a three-shot lead over Justin Rose with one round to play on Sunday.

Woods' round of 65 was the low round of the day. After a rough start on Saturday for Rose, he bounced back to finish with a 68.

Here is his third round shot-by-shot:

Hole 18 - Par 5

Once again, Tiger rips his drive on the 18th. A huge, 349-yard bomb leaves him 221 yards to the hole. From there though, he misses the green at the 18th (in two shots) for the first time this week. His second shot bounces through the green and into the back, greenside bunker.

He caught the bunker shot a little fat and it came up short. It did trickle down the green to make it respectable, but he still left himself 17 feet for birdie.

That attempt slides past the cup on the left. He taps in for par, finishing with a third-round 65 and a three-shot lead heading into the final round on Sunday. Tiger's 65 was the low round of the day.

Hole 17 - Par 4

Coming off his second bogey of the day, Woods again hits a bomb off the tee. He's in the fairway and has 140 yards to the pin. From there, he finds the green about 12 feet from the cup. He'll have a nice look for birdie.

Tiger gave this birdie putt from 12 feet, 6 inches a good, long look before stepping up. It slides *just* past the right edge. He taps in for par. 5 under on the day (12 under for the tournament)

Hole 16 - Par 4

Tiger's right foot slips out a bit on his drive on 16 and he pushes it right. It travels far enough to get past the pesky fairway bunker but it bounds into the rough and settles down and is hard to see. Tiger doesn't seem to happy with this lie and the TV commentator describes it as 'miserable.'

So from 143 yards out, Woods hacks it from that tough lie and couldn't do much with it. It bounces past the green and rolls off the back right and winds up over 75 feet from the cup.

From there, Woods tried to get a little cute with his chip and left it short and it rolled back toward him down the hill.

But in vintage Tiger fashion, he settled himself and hit an amazing chip to just a few feet and tapped in for bogey. That is a good bogey if there ever was one. He's now 5 under on the day (12 under for the tournament). Justin Rose, meanwhile, picks up two shots after draining his birdie putt -- and Woods' lead is now down to three shots.

Hole 15 - Par 3

On one of the most intimidating tee shots on the course, the beautiful 200-yard, par-3 15th gets Woods off the tee. He avoids the water surrounding the green, but his tee shot pulls left and bounds into the greenside bunker. He'll have a ton of green to work with but it'll be a tough bunker shot from there.

The bunker shot is a good one and the crowd thought that had a chance for a second. It slides past the cup and he'll have another little tester for par.

And again, from just over 5 feet, Tiger drains it for par. 6 under on the day (13 under for the tournament). Five shots clear.

Hole 14 - Par 4

Tiger's drive goes down the right side of the fairway and it's flirting with the rough, but appears to still be in the short stuff. Justin Rose's shot went way right, hit a tree and kicked left back towards the rough. Lucky break, he should've been buried deep in the trees. Tiger's second shot (from 200 yards in the first cut) comes up well short. He'll have to get up-and-down from 65 feet for his par.

With a low bump-and-run ship from in front of the green, he rolls it up to four feet below the hole. He drills the par putt to remain at 6 under thru 14 (13 under for the tournament). Rose bogeyed the hole, building Tiger's lead to five shots.

Hole 13 - Par 4

Driver here for Tiger and this is perfect down the middle. The ball appears to stop on a sprinkler head, so he'll get some relief from there. After getting relief Tiger's approach comes up short of the green on the fringe. His putt from there didn't have enough juice, but he taps in for par. 6-under thru 13 (13-under for the tournament).

Hole 12 - Par 4

Tiger's game off the tee has bounced back. Hits this one over 250 down the right side of the fairway. From there (144 yards), Woods does what he did on the first 7 holes of the day. He sticks it -- 7 feet from the pin. He drains it. First birdie of the back nine and gets him back to 6-under thru 12 (13-under for the tournament).

Hole 11 - Par 3

Tee shot on the 214-yard hole floats a bit left and stops just off the green, on the fringe and about 34 feet from the cup. With a tough line to the hole, he doesn't allow for enough break on his chip and the ball slides in front of the hole and down the hill a bit, leaving him over 7 feet for par. But Tiger drains it -- even walked it in a bit. Huge putt. Keeps him at 5 under thru 11 (12-under for the tournament). Four shots clear of the field.

Hole 10 - Par 4

How would Tiger respond to his first bogey of the day? Pretty well, it appears. Woods smacked his drive 299 yards down the left side of the fairway, leaving himself just over 130 yards to the pin. His approach was solid, more toward the middle of the green but still within 20 feet of the hole. The putt for birdie was close, but it slid past the hole - probably further than Tiger would have liked. But he makes the 3-foot comebacker for another par. 5-under thru 10 (12-under for the tournament).

Hole 9 - Par 3

Tiger pulls the tee shot on the par-3 ninth hole a bit. Ends up long and left and it settled down in the rough not far from the grandstand. With the pin on the opposite side of the green, Woods punches a little chip shot across the green and leave himself just over 9 feet for par. That putt *just* slides by the right side of the cup and Woods has to settle for his first bogey of the day. 5-under through 9 -- out in 30 (12-under for the tournament).

Hole 8 - Par 4

Driver off the tee and he pushes this one a little right. It flirts with the bunkers off the left side of the fairway but winds up in the rough, but sits up relatively nicely. From there, Woods hits a wedge pin high, but just off the left edge of the green. His chip from there takes a nice first bounce and had the perfect speed but missed just left. He taps in for par on the hardest hole on the course. 6-under thru 8 (13-under for the tournament).

Hole 7 - Par 4

3-wood here off the tee and this is Tiger's first fairway miss of the day. This went left, bouncing from the rough into a bunker. He's got a flat lie from the sand and with 172 yards to the pin, Tiger goes pin-seeking. He lands the ball on the fringe and it perfectly kicks to the right and stops inside six feet. Unbelievable. That's his fifth consecutive birdie. 6 under thru 7 (13-under for the tournament).

Leaderboard update: Tiger holds a five-shot lead at 13-under, followed by Justin Rose at 8-under, Rory McIlroy at 6-under and Gary Woodland and Jon Rahm at 5-under.

Hole 6 - Par 5

This is almost too much fun. Tiger absolutely piped this drive down the fairway. 5-wood here for Tiger trying to reach the green in two and this one is a bit too far right. He played a cut and it cut right into a bunker. He's a little south of pin-high, with not too much green to work with. He'll have to get nifty with his shot from the sand. Perfect play from there, landing the ball about 10 feet from the cup and letting it run to six feet away. The putt finds the center of the cup for his fourth birdie in a row. You can't make this stuff up. 5-under thru 6 (12-under for the tournament).

Hole 5 - Par 4

Driver. Fairway. 320 yards. From a little more than 120-yards out, Tiger goes pin-seeking at the back-left hole location and this is a beauty. Do we even need to tell you he made the 7-footer for birdie? Well, he did. That's three straight birdies. 4-under thru 5 (11-under for the tournament).

Hole 4 - Par 4

Grip it. Rip it. Twirl it. Another solid drive down the middle of the fairway. The confidence is oozing for Tiger here today, especially off the tee. I've tracked almost every round he's played this year, and this is as good as he's looked all season. Safe shot on the approach, finding the center of the green. Judging by his reaction it didn't quite move as much as he wanted, but another birdie chance still awaits. STOP IT. I think Justin Rose gave him a bit of a read because Tiger buried that 21-footer for birdie like it was a gimmie. 3-under thru 4 (10-under for the tournament).

Hole 3 - Par 4

Iron off the tee here for Tiger and he's in the fairway. Safe shot. Smart play. His approach shot lands in the middle of the green and runs a bit further, coming to rest inside 10-feet of the back pin. PGA Tour's shot tracker has an 8-foot putt for birdie awaiting Tiger. Jar. Birdie-par-birdie start for TW. 2-under thru 3 (9-under for the tournament).

Leaderboard update: Tiger's in the solo lead at 9-under, followed by Rory McIlroy at 7-under, Justin Rose at 6-under, and Jon Rahm and Gary Woodland at 5-under.

Hole 2 - Par 3

Safe shot here for Tiger to the middle of the green. He's got about 40-feet for birdie with a big swing from left-to-right. He lags this one inside five feet and converts the par putt. 1-under thru 2 (8-under for the tournament).

Hole 1 - Par 4

Here we go. Teeing off with the tournament lead after 36 holes for the first time since 2015 TW smoked his drive down the middle-right of the fairway. His approach safely finds the green, rolling inside 20-feet to set up a birdie putt. Scratch that: 22-feet for birdie for Tiger and he drills it. 1-under thru 1 (8-under for the tournament)

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