Putting again a problem as Tiger Woods settles for third-round 68
DUBLIN, Ohio -- Another great display of ballstriking. Another frustrating day on the greens.
Tiger Woods had Muirfield Village buzzing Saturday as he briefly moved into a share of the lead at the Memorial, only to bogey two of the final three holes, missing a 4-footer at the 18th.
He finished with a 4-under-par 68, but much like Friday when he shot 67, he walked off disappointed rather than exuberant.
"I am definitely not taking advantage of how well I'm hitting it," said Woods, who hit 15 of 18 greens and made his only bogeys by twice three-putting. "This is probably the highest score I could have shot. Could have easily shot 62 or 63 yesterday and could have easily shot 63 or 64 without doing much today.
"I hit the ball well enough to where shooting in the 60s could have been pretty easy if I had just putted normally."
Woods missed four birdie putts of 14 feet or shorter, including a 4-footer at the 14th hole. He three-putted the 16th and 18th greens and took 31 putts total.
He finished 54 holes at 9-under 207.
When he birdied the 15th hole by rolling in his longest putt of the day, Woods was at 11 under and tied for the lead with the second-round leaders still early on their front nine. But those closing bogeys hurt, dropping him down the leaderboard with a vulnerable course there for those still playing.
"The scary thing is, as well as he's hitting the ball, he's not putting well," said Patrick Reed, the Masters champion who played with Woods on Saturday and shot 73. "And Tiger knows how to putt, so when he starts putting well, it's going to be really fun to watch all those low scores coming from him. He's close."
That was of little consolation to Woods, who had an eagle and three birdies on the front side to shoot 31, only to play the closing nine holes in 1 over.
Woods put it down to a mechanical issue with his putting, one that he worked on Friday night after his round.
"I was releasing the putting beautifully early," he said. "Just getting the putts to turn over. My toe was moving nicely. And I just didn't do it at the end. ... I hit a lot of good putts today, and I just didn't do it at the end."
Woods, 42, has now shot consecutive rounds in the 60s at Muirfield Village after going nine straight without one. At the place where he has won five times, he can try to be aggressive and see what happens.
This is Woods' ninth tournament of 2018, with four top-12 finishes, including a tie for second at the Valspar Championship. Finishing off the Sunday rounds has proved to be difficult, which offers another challenge for Woods.
"I'm in position. Hopefully I'm not too far back," he said. "I wish I could have stayed up there at 11 under par."
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