Vintage Tiger Woods boosts Open hopes with terrific round
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
ByEurosport
Updated 22/07/2018 at 08:06 GMT
To roars and whoops from the packed galleries Tiger Woods moved into the clubhouse lead at Carnoustie on Saturday with his lowest Major round since the second round at the 2011 Masters.
Tiger Woods
Image credit: Getty Images
The 42-year-old began the day on level-par for the tournament but took full advantage of perfect scoring conditions to join six other players on six-under.
It was the first time Woods had topped a major leaderboard since the Masters in 2013.
"That was good, that was good," he said, with just a touch of relief. "It's been a few years since I've felt like this.
"Given what happened last few years, I didn't know if that would ever happen again but here I am with a chance on a Sunday in a major championship. It's going to be fun.
"I didn't want to be too far back and I'm definitely in reach. I'm right there. I've got a chance at this, which is great.
"I didn't know I was tied for the lead at one point, I knew I was within one. We're not there yet, let me try and get there first."
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2018/07/21/2376763-49434030-2560-1440.jpg)
Tiger Woods of the United States smiles as he marks his ball on the 18th green during the third round of the 147th Open Championship at Carnoustie Golf Club on July 21, 2018 in Carnoustie, Scotland.
Image credit: Getty Images
Woods began his charge with a birdie at the fourth and picked up another shot at the sixth.
A 25-foot birdie putt dropped on the ninth and Woods carried the momentum into the homeward nine.
His laser-guided second shot to the 10th gave him a tap-in birdie and Woods then had a 95-foot eagle putt on the 11th which he rolled to within five feet and stroked home the birdie putt.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2018/07/21/2376762-49434010-2560-1440.jpg)
Tiger Woods of the United States and Shaun Norris of South Africa acknowledge the crowd on the 18th hole during the third round of the 147th Open Championship at Carnoustie Golf Club on July 21, 2018 in Carnoustie, Scotland.
Image credit: Getty Images
With excitement mounting around the sprawling links course Woods punched in another superb approach shot on the par-five 14th and two-putted for his sixth birdie of the day.
He did eventually drop a shot but finished five under to take the clubhouse lead with a round of 66.
Woods won the last of his 14 majors at the 2008 US Open since when he has been beset by injuries and personal strife.
And, as he signed his card, he may have reflected on the moments he felt he'd never play or feel like this again. This was his best performance in a major since he made the same score in the second round at Augusta seven years ago.
And it was his best performance at The Open – which he has won three times – since the second round at Royal Liverpool 12 years ago.
"I played well, I really did," he added.
"I hit a lot of good shots. I really didn't feel like I really made a bad swing until the 18th. I really felt like I had control of the golf ball and I made some longer putts, which was nice.
"That was big moment for me on the 18th, I knew I couldn't give a shot up there."
FINAL ROUND TEE-OFF TIMES
- 08:00 Beau Hossler (US)
- 08:10 Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha), Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spa)
- 08:20 Si Woo Kim (Kor), Bryson DeChambeau (US)
- 08:30 Keegan Bradley (US), Luke List (US)
- 08:40 Brendan Steele (US), Cameron Smith (Aus)
- 08:50 Paul Dunne, Tyrrell Hatton
- 09:00 Brooks Koepka (US), Cameron Davis (Aus)
- 09:10 Kevin Na (US), Brett Rumford (Aus)
- 09:20 Paul Casey, Henrik Stenson (Swe)
- 09:30 Ryan Fox (NZ), Gavin Green (Mal)
- 09:45 Gary Woodland (US), Shubhankar Sharma (Ind)
- 09:55 Masahiro Kawamura (Jpn), Sam Locke (Sco) (amateur)
- 10:05 Rhys Enoch, Matthew Southgate
- 10:15 Jason Day (Aus), Marcus Kinhult (Swe)
- 10:25 Yuta Ikeda (Jpn), Adam Hadwin (Can)
- 10:35 Brandon Stone (SA), Sung Kang (Kor)
- 10:45 Stewart Cink (US), Thomas Pieters (Bel)
- 10:55 Julian Suri (US), Lee Westwood
- 11:05 Marc Leishman (Aus), Tom Lewis
- 11:15 Jason Dufner (US), Ross Fisher
- 11:30 Patrick Reed (US), Rickie Fowler (US)
- 11:40 Eddie Pepperell, Phil Mickelson (US)
- 11:50 Bernhard Langer (Ger), Pat Perez (US)
- 12:00 Patrick Cantlay (US), Michael Kim (US)
- 12:10 Lucas Herbert (Aus), Shaun Norris (SA)
- 12:20 Louis Oosthuizen (SA), Sean Crocker (US)
- 12:30 Satoshi Kodaira (Jpn), Thorbjorn Olesen (Den)
- 12:40 Danny Willett, Ryan Moore (US)
- 12:50 Kyle Stanley (US), Haotong Li (Chn)
- 13:00 Byeong-Hun An (Kor), Chris Wood
- 13:15 Yusaku Miyazato (Jpn), Erik Van Rooyen (SA)
- 13:25 Tony Finau (US), Zander Lombard (SA)
- 13:35 Charley Hoffman (US), Adam Scott (Aus)
- 13:45 Austin Cook (US), Justin Rose
- 13:55 Zach Johnson (US), Tommy Fleetwood
- 14:05 Rory McIlroy, Matt Kuchar (US)
- 14:15 Alex Noren (Swe), Webb Simpson (US)
- 14:25 Tiger Woods (US), Francesco Molinari (Ita)
- 14:35 Kevin Chappell (US), Kevin Kisner (US)
- 14:45 Xander Schauffele (US), Jordan Spieth (US)
Scan me
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement