He may have suffered a late lapse, but Tiger Woods is in
contention to do something few would have believed in recent weeks: Win a
tournament.
Having missed
the cut at three consecutive majors -- an unthinkable low for the greatest
golfer of the past two decades -- the 39-year-old was just two shots off the
lead going into the final round of the Wyndham Championship.
It's an event Woods has never played before, but victory Sunday would surely
rate among the most satisfying of the 79 titles he has amassed on the PGA Tour.
Having been
ridiculed and written off in the past year, Woods has struggled with injuries
and the intricacies of yet again remodeling his game.
His first-round 64 was
his best score in two years. He
admitted Friday's 65 wasn't quite so convincing, but it still gave him a share
of the lead.
A bogey at
Saturday's final hole -- only his fourth dropped shot of the week -- meant he
signed for a two-under-par 68 to be two strokes behind outright leader Jason
Gore.
Gore scorched
around the course in Greensboro, North Carolina, carding a 62.
That score was
matched by Sweden's Jonas Blixt, who was tied for second on 13 under with Woods
and another American, Scott Brown.
Perhaps a good indication of Woods' rapid improvement is that he
did not hit a bunker until the 51st hole of the tournament; an unfortunate
feature of his play this year has been waywardness off the tee.
His presence at
Sedgefield Country Club has been popular -- the PGA Tour reported that 34,000
spectators attended on Saturday, which organizers called "a modern-day
record" for an event that has been run in various guises since 1938.
"I'm having
a good time," Woods said. "It helps to play better, and the
atmosphere is incredible."
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