Oh, what could have been for Tiger Woods. The 14-time major champ had only one blemish on Friday’s scorecard at the 2019 Players, but it was big one at that. His first quadruple bogey on a par 3 in nearly two decades dropped him off the leader board. And it turns out, he probably could have saved a few of those strokes if he’d taken a drop he wasn’t aware was an option. In any event, Woods tees off at TPC Sawgrass with Kevin Na at 11 a.m., and trailing 36-hole leaders Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood by nine shots, he’ll need to make a huge move on moving day to get back into contention. McIlroy and Fleetwood will play in the final pairing at 2:40 p.m. Keep it right here for all the latest news, scores and highlights from Day 3 at the Players. (All times ET)
11:43 a.m.: OK, let’s look and see what else is going on at TPC Sawgrass as we are inside three hours from the final tee time. The best rounds of the day right now belong to Daniel Berger and Richie Werenski, who are both three under. The highest people on the leader board right now is a group of four who has moved to five under: Brandt Snedeker, Jhonattan Vegas, Ryan More and Seamus Power. Moore made a slam dunk hole-in-one at No. 17 on Thursday, and Power made an ace of his own on No. 3 earlier today.
11:38 a.m.: You know how tour pros often talk about feeding off playing partners when they’re playing well? Well, this is the opposite. Tiger and Na both bogey for a second straight hole. For Na, it’s a third bogey to start his round. For Tiger, it’s another missed par putt from about six feet after missing the green left off the tee. Add it all up and this pairing is five over through three holes. Yikes.
11:29 a.m.: It’s not a 7 on a par 3, but a 6 on the par-5 second, especially when it’s playing downwind, can’t feel much better for Tiger. After pushing his drive into the right rough, Woods finds a bunker up near the green and is faced with an awkward third. From there, he barely finds a piece of the green and three-putts for bogey to fall 10 shots off the pace. Not the start he was hoping for.
11:13 a.m.: The breeze has picked up as evidenced by Tiger’s tee shot only traveling 270 yards. From 170, he hits a sporty approach to about 15 feet, but misses the birdie putt. Playing partner Kevin Na fails to get up and down and starts with bogey. Time to flip around for the par-5 second, which will be playing dead downwind.
11:02 a.m.: OK, we are underway and it is vest weather in Florida. Woods is wearing grey over a green shirt and he pipes his drive off the first tee. Good start.