TIGER Woods said his back was feeling better, but his game remained a little out of sorts after carding a third-round one-under 71 at the Memorial Tournament in steamy Dublin, Ohio on Saturday, leaving him 11 shots off the overnight leaders.
Competing in a PGA Tour event for the first time in five months, Woods has looked both good and bad with a second-round four-over 76 on Friday sandwiched between 71s.
A five-time champion on the Jack Nicklaus designed Muirfield Village layout, Woods said his troublesome back was an issue during a plodding second round.
Yet he complained of a general lack of competitive sharpness on Saturday as his bid for a record-breaking 83rd tour title drifted out of sight.
“I was moving better today and felt like I did the first day, and consequently I could make the passes at the golf ball like I did the first day,” Woods told reporters. Unfortunately, I didn’t make any putts today.
“I think that getting back into the flow and competing again and playing at this level, I hadn’t done that in a while.
“Playing home and playing out here is so very different, and making sure that I stay sharp and don’t make any silly mistakes and dump the ball in the wrong spots or give myself bad angles, that’s one of the things about playing competitive golf that’s very different from playing at home.” — Reuters
