Tiger Woods will enter the final round of the Valspar Championship one off the lead held by Corey Conners, following a Saturday round of 4-under 67 at Innisbrook.
Woods sits in a three-way tie for second at 8 under par with Justin Rose and Brandt Snedeker. Rose will play in the final pairing with Conners on Sunday, while Woods and Snedeker go off in the second-to-last tee time for the second day in a row.
“The environment was incredible,” Woods told Golf Channel’s Steve Sands in a post-round interview. “The people were into it. I played well, Sneds played well, and the people, I think they really got entertained today.
“I’ve played myself right up there in contention so it’ll be a fun Sunday.”
Two off the lead to start his third round Saturday, Woods missed a birdie try at the par-5 opening hole, but wouldn’t have to wait long to move into red figures.
Tiger made his first birdie of the day at the par-4 third, taking iron off the tee and playing another from the rough before rolling in a 20-footer.
Saturday Tiger tally:
1 birdie
1 fist pump pic.twitter.com/5URSEkEw5N— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) March 10, 2018
Two holes later, he split the split the fairway at the par-5 fifth, flew his second shot just over the green, and got a pitch from the thick stuff to stop in short order, setting up a tap-in four.
Tiger Woods' 321-yard drive sets up a birdie on No. 5.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/UiQnuvkV5d
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 10, 2018
Following pars at Nos. 6, 7, 8, Woods closed out a 3-under front nine with this chip-in birdie to tie for the lead at 7 under par.
An immediate birdie response from Conners kicked Woods one down again, but Tiger would pull even once more, this time at 8 under, with his second birdie in a row via this 22-footer at 10.
There goes that man!
Back-to-back birdies for Tiger. #QuickHits pic.twitter.com/rE7oZ323sJ
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 10, 2018
Woods dropped his first shot of the day when he found trouble long and right of the green at the par-3 13th and failed to pull off a flop, leaving his lob in the bunker between himself and the putting surface.
He used the frustration from that bogey to unleash this 129-mph swing off the tee at the par-5 14th, which would help set up a two-putt birdie.
This is what a 129-mph swing looks like: pic.twitter.com/FX04tOUm6H
— Ryan Lavner (@RyanLavnerGC) March 10, 2018
Tiger Woods: club head speed measured at 129.2 MPH on 14th hole (fastest swing recorded by any player on PGA Tour this season).
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGC) March 10, 2018
I admit that I nearly crumbled to my knees as that putt barreled toward the hole. Looked dead center with about 5 feet to go. But a tap-in birdie means he's back to -8 and two shots back.
— GC Tiger Tracker (@GCTigerTracker) March 10, 2018
Woods hit each of his last four greens on his way into the clubhouse but couldn’t get any those lengthy birdie putts to fall, coming in in 1-under 34.
Source: Internet
