Tiger Woods didn’t make a birdie during the first 13 holes Saturday in the Tour Championship's third round. It brought to mind opening day, when he had his first birdie-less round since the 2010 U.S. Open.
You might say playing competitor Jason Dufner, he of expressionless faces and dry humor, noticed Woods’ dry spell.
See the action and emotion from Saturday's third round of the Tour Championship, the final event of the 2013 FedEx Cup playoffs on PGA Tour, at East Lake in Atlanta.
“Duff was giving me a pretty good earful going down 13,” Woods said, smiling.
The earful and drought, however, stopped on the next hole when Woods chipped in from 19 feet for birdie – one of his two during a 69 that left him at 3-over-par 213 and in a tie for 26th in the elite 30-man field.
“So I was able to fire right back at him that I wasn’t shut out,” Woods said happily.
His ball-striking off, Woods hit five of 14 fairways for the second day in a row and 11 greens in regulation, his low for the week. He missed mostly to the right off the tee but also had the dreaded two-way miss going.
“I hit everything to the right or flipped it left,” Woods said.
He’s projected second in FedEx Cup points. If he stays there, he would receive a $3 million bonus – or $7 million less than the FedEx champion. Hence he sounded like he’s still focused despite being 15 strokes off the lead.
“The goal is to go out and shoot a low round tomorrow and see where the chips fall,” Woods said.
