The ominous figure of Tiger Woods overshadowed a brutal third round at the Masters on Saturday until he stumbled with a bogey-bogey finish.
AUGUSTA: The ominous figure of Tiger Woods overshadowed a brutal third round at the Masters on Saturday until he stumbled with a bogey-bogey finish.
While most of the field slid backwards on what is traditionally known as 'Moving Day' at the majors, the four-times champion closed to within two shots of the early lead with two holes to play.
A spot in Sunday's final pairing appeared to be his for the taking but Woods drove into trees off the tee on 17 and missed the green with his approach at the last before completing an even-par 72.
Having toiled hard in gusting winds at a chilly Augusta National to stay in the title hunt, the 12-times major winner had to settle for a three-over total of 219.
"That was one of the hardest rounds we have played out here," a frustrated Woods told reporters after his second bogey-bogey finish of the week.
"If you make 18 pars you are going to move up that leaderboard. Around here that's not usually the case but it was today."
Asked if he felt the same level of frustration as he did after dropping shots on 17 and 18 in the opening round, he replied: "Yes...and then some.
"Quite frankly I was just out there plodding along. I had enough to worry about."
Five off the pace overnight, Woods eased into his customary title-hungry mode with birdies on the third and eighth before reaching the turn in two-under 34.
Although he bogeyed the treacherous par-three 12th, where he found the back left bunker off the tee, he picked up another shot at the par-five 13th to get back to one over. That left him two behind the pacesetting Stuart Appleby of Australia.
After reaching the green in two at the par-five 15th, Woods wasted a golden birdie opportunity by running up his first three-putt of the week.
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