It was a struggle at times, especially on the back nine, but Tiger Woods recorded a 2-under-par 70 on Saturday in the third round of the WGC-HSBC Champions at breezy Sheshan International Golf Club.
Woods has a 54-hole score of 12-under 204 and is tied for second with Nick Watney, two strokes behind Phil Mickelson. The trio will play together Sunday in the final round.
The 33-year-old Woods has dominated WGC events, winning 16 of 30 starts and has 27 top-10 finishes. Twice, he has been a runner-up in this tournament.
Paired with Watney and Ryan Moore in the last threesome Saturday, and trailed by a massive gallery, Woods started the final round tied with Watney at 10-under. After parring the first hole, he drained an eight-foot birdie putt at the par-5 second.
Following a two-putt par at No. 3, Woods missed the green to the right at the par-3 fourth, but chipped to six inches and easily saved par. A beautiful approach shot at the par-4 fifth left him with a three-foot birdie putt below the hole, which he converted.
Woods parred the sixth and seventh holes, then struck for another birdie at the par-5 eighth. He drove into a left fairway bunker, blasted out and hit his third shot 12 feet above the hole to earn a two-stroke lead.
However, he dropped a shot at the par-4 ninth -- only his third bogey of the week -- again finding a fairway bunker off the tee. Woods was forced to play short of the green, hit a good third shot just inside 10 feet and missed the putt to make the turn in 2-under 34.
Rebounding quickly, Woods poured in a 20-foot birdie putt at the par-4 10th. But he gave it back at the par-4 11th after he missed the fairway, slashed short of the green and was unable to salvage par from 14 feet.
Woods did save par at the par-3 12th, hitting a nice chip from behind the green within two feet of the hole.
© ETW CORP 2009