The Daily Wrap-up, Round 3: Buick Open
GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) -- Tiger Woods drove on adjacent fairways twice on the back nine, hit a cup of beer in a spectator's hand, got rattled by a bug and was relegated to shaping some shots around trees and under branches.
He still managed to shoot a 7-under 65 on Saturday in the third round of the Buick Open, giving him a 17-under 199 total and a one-stroke lead when Michael Letzig (68) double bogeyed the last hole.
"The whole idea of the game is put the ball in the hole, and I did that," Woods said. "But as far as controlling my ball, I didn't do that."
Woods opened his first tournament since missing the cut at the British Open with a 71 after what he said was probably his worst putting day.
When he was eight shots behind first-round leader Steve Lowery, Woods said he couldn't make up ground in one day at Warwick Hills.
It took him two.
Woods roared back into contention with a 9-under 63 in the second round and took the lead with his 65 Saturday.
"Eight back, at a U.S. Open, you can make that up in one round," he said. "You can't make it up around here."
He moved into a tie for the lead with Letzig at 17 under with a 33-foot birdie putt at No. 17.
Woods pumped his fist, shouted "Yeah!" and the traditionally rowdy gallery roared so loud he couldn't communicate with caddie Steve Williams.
"It was pretty exciting," said Woods, making his ninth Buick Open appearance. "The people here have been absolutely incredible, so supportive of this event over the years. That's one of the reasons why we love coming here."
Letzig hit a poor shot out of a greenside bunker at No. 18, barely clearing it and leaving him with a tricky lie. He fell to 16 under while Woods was on the practice range.
"I don't care," Letzig said when asked if it would be tough to forget what happened on the last hole. "I'm one shot out of the lead."
Based on history, that's probably an insurmountable deficit behind Woods.
The superstar has a 35-1 record on the PGA TOUR when he has the outright lead after 54 holes. The lone loss in this situation came when he was 20 in his third tournament as a pro to Ed Fiori in the 1996 Quad City Classic.
Woods and Letzig will be in the final group on Sunday just as they were at the Memorial in June, when Woods went on to win and Letzig's 75 plummeted him to a tie for 14th.
"I won't be so scared, I'll know what to expect," Letzig insisted. "I'm playing good, that's the bottom line."
If Woods wins Sunday, it would be his third Buick Open title and 69th on TOUR.
Letzig, meanwhile, is hoping to win for the first time in his 50th TOUR event. He's coming off his first top-10 finish this year. His best showing in two seasons was a tie for second at the Ginn sur Mer Classic.
Woods has won every other tournament in his last four starts.
He missed the cut at the British Open two weeks ago after winning the AT&T National, tying for sixth at the U.S. Open and winning the Memorial Tournament. His first victory this season was the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, his third tournament following an eight-month absence recovering from reconstructive surgery on his left knee.
Woods was nearly flawless in the second round at the Buick Open, then made enough clutch shots to make up for many poor ones in the third.
Woods three-putted from 55 feet on the par-5 first. He was still muttering and shaking his head about the missed opportunity on the second fairway as slammed his 3-wood into his bag and starting eating a peanut butter, jelly and banana sandwich.
At No. 5, he stepped out of his stance and kicked a bug that he later acknowledged led to him losing his concentration and sailing his tee shot to the right 237 yards away from the pin.
"I didn't refocus on the shot," Woods said. "I just got away with it."
Woods cut a shot around one tree, over a towering one and reached the green to set up a two-putt from 53 feet for a birdie.
At No. 7, he pulled out his driver that stayed in his bag for much of the day and the tee shot caromed off a cup of beer that was in a fan's hands and led to some friendly banter.
Woods hit his second shot under some tree branches and it finally landed about 300 yards away. A fantastic save out of sand set him up for another birdie.
While Woods was pleased with his results, he wasn't proud of the way he had to scramble on one of the easier courses on TOUR.
"You're not supposed to be doing that," he said. "This golf course is pretty short. You have to take advantage and I did, but unfortunately, I didn't do it the correct way."
| Other notables at the Buick Open | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| Saturday's best |
|
The par-5 16th hole was the easiest with a Saturday scoring average of 4.181.
The par-3 eighth hole was the toughest with a Saturday scoring average of 3.167.
|
Tiger Woods drains a 33 foot birdie putt on the 17th hole on his way to shooting a 7-under 65 Saturday. 
Scott Piercy had nine birdies and just one bogey on his way to an 8-under 64. INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
PGA TOUR Network correspondent Bob Stevens offers these observations from Saturday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146/SIRIUS 209 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
Somebody alert the Genessee County authorities, a guy named Woods might have just stolen the Buick Open with a couple of back-nine birdies and a par save at the final hole from impossible situations. Woods made birdie at the 13th from the fourth fairway and saved par at the 18th from the ninth fairway. Add that to an amazing third shot at the par-5 16th after punching out from behind a tree and a 33-foot curling birdie at the 17th and it's easy to see why Tiger will lead the tournament headed into Sunday. Tiger was quick to give credit to caddie Steve Williams for getting him accurate yardages at Nos. 13 and 18 in areas the caddies don't usually step off when they're preparing their yardage books. The shots, though, were pure Tiger magic.
David Duval is deeper under par than he's been since the Bob Hope Classic in January, and he couldn't hide his excitment about sharing the moment with his 16-year-old stepson, who's on his bag for the first time. Remember, David's adopted family with wife Susie never got to see their stepdad at the height of his prowess, but they are learning now just how well Dad can play. Duval is 9-under headed to Sunday and was positively giddy about where his game, and his life are right now when he talked to my colleague, John Maginnes, after his 67 Saturday.
With the tees up at the 14th and 17th holes, Charles Warren told us the entire back nine at Warwick Hills was "conducive to excitement," and that's exactly the way he played that stretch. With the par-4 14th shortened to just 309 yards, players were enticed to drive the green, and Warren ran off five straight birdies from the 12th through the 16th before yanking his tee shot at the shortened 168-yard 17th and making bogey. But he loved the set-up of the back nine. You've got to imagine the set-up might be similar on Sunday to make the charge to the finish even more "conducive to excitement."
| Live Essentials | ||||
|
Shop your favorite brand name golf equipment and accessories at SHOP.PGATOUR.COM
PGATOUR.com is part of Turner - SI Digital, part of the Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network 