Tiger Woods struggles early, cards 75 in Round 3 of Hero World Challenge

— -- NASSAU, Bahamas -- The surprising, impressive play by Tiger Woods in his return to competition gave way to reality Saturday as he played and looked more like a golfer who has been away for considerable time.

Woods struggled in the blustery Bahamas conditions at Albany Golf Club, failing to make a birdie until the 14th hole and falling well out of contention during the third round of the Hero World Challenge.

He shot 3-over 75 Saturday after starting with scores of 69 and 68. Woods is 10 strokes behind leader? Charley Hoffman, who has a five-shot cushion over? Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth.

Playing for the first time since undergoing spinal fusion surgery in April, the 41-year-old Woods blasted drives and sank putts during the first two rounds, only to struggle with all aspects during the third. Woods hit just two greens in regulation through 11 holes, the result of missed fairways and misjudged shots in the wind. And when his short game didn't bail him out, he had shot 40 for the first nine holes, then added another bogey at the 10th.

The 14-time major champion, who is playing just his fourth tournament in 27 months, settled down from there, but still went the entire round without making a birdie at any of the five par 5s. He played them in 2-over par, and is just 1 under for those scoring holes through three rounds.

Things started poorly when Woods missed the first fairway into a waste area, hit a rock on his follow through and came up short of the green. A poor pitch led to a bogey. He blew his second-shot approach over the green on the par-5 third and left his pitch short, leading to another bogey.

The par-saving putts that mostly dropped during the first two rounds were not falling Saturday.

It will come as little consolation to Woods, but the course that allowed Hoffman to make 12 birdies Friday was considerably more difficult. Eight other players in the 18-man field were over par in the third round.

No matter how Woods fares Sunday, he will make a move up from his place of 1,199 in the Official World Ranking. Even if he finishes in last place, he'll move up to 932nd in the world. A 10th-place finish would get him to 673rd.

The Hero World Challenge invites only players ranked among the top 50. As tournament host, Woods is granted an exemption.