BETHESDA, Md. – Tiger Woods had everyone dreaming of PGA TOUR win number 80 early in the third round of the Quicken Loans National but the roars turned to whimpers as an epic charge stalled on the back nine.
Starting the third round just four-shots back Woods had the crowd in a state of hysteria after four-straight birdies moved him to within one shot of the lead after just seven holes.
But while the heat index at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm continued to rise, Woods’ putter started to cool off and a host of missed chances peppered his last nine holes.
In the final wash up Woods shot a 2-under 68 to move to 7 under for the tournament, a distant six shots off the pace set by Francesco Molinari (65) and Abraham Ancer (62) at 13 under.
“I played better than what my score indicates,” Woods said.
“It was frustrating because I thought that 10 under would have been a good score for me to end up at for the day and I could have easily gotten that today on the back nine.”
A win for Woods is certainly not completely out of the question as he sits in a tie for 10th place but the two-time FedExCup champion will need a special Sunday.
With temperatures expected to squeak towards 100 degrees on Sunday Woods will base his strategy on how the golf course is set up but clearly intends to try to go low and post a number in the clubhouse.
“I'm curious to see what they do with the golf course, if they keep letting it dry out or are they going to protect it against this heat,” Woods said.
“If they let it dry out, then the scores won't be as low tomorrow, but if they protect it, then everybody's been making birdies everywhere here.
“Either way I'm going to have to shoot a low round to try to give myself a chance, but I would hope that it would be drier because it gives me a little better chance.”