By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- As inconsistent as Tiger Woods has been the first three days of The Honda Classic, there has been one thing that has been: His score.

Woods carded his third straight round of even-par 70 on Saturday at PGA National, where the round started with promise and ended with the disappointment of a double bogey on the penultimate hole.

After making the cut on the number, Woods birdied two of his first three holes before adding another on the eighth to make the turn in 3 under.

Woods gave one of them back, however, with a bogey on the 10th, where he hit into a greenside bunker from the fairway and missed an 8-footer to save par.

Seven holes later, he gave them all back.

Woods cleared the water on the 190-yard par-3 only to see his ball disappear into the bank. He took a drop and pitched onto the green but landed 22 feet from the hole and two-putted from there.

"I thought realistically 5‑ or 6‑under par would be a good score," Woods said. "I thought if I post that had I would be within six or seven shots of the lead going into tomorrow at worst."

Instead, he's nine back with the leader having not even teed off yet.

"It's not that far off," said Woods, who earlier this year won in San Diego but last week lost in the first round of the World Golf Championships-Acenture Match Play Championship. "I feel like I'm probably just not quite driving it as well."

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- The good news for Tiger Woods: He has three birdies and no bogeys through his first nine holes here in the third round (click here to track him live).

The bad news: He's still six shots off the pace with the leader yet to tee off.

Still, Woods didn't waste any time making a move.

He birdied the first hole at PGA National, hitting his approach to just inside 6 feet before making the putt. Two holes later, Woods added another birdie, reaching the par-5 third in two before two-putting from 46 feet.

Woods made four straight pars after that, though he didn't have many reasonable looks at birdie either. His only opportunity was on the par-3 fifth, where his 13-footer slid just past the hole.

As well as Woods has scored, he hasn't been entirely accurate, hitting just four of seven fairways and five of nine greens. He also got up and down from the sand three times.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- The day began with Rory McIlroy withdrawing due to pain in his wisdom tooth and ended with Luke Guthrie atop the leaderboard with two rounds to play in The Honda Classic.

Guthrie, a rookie on the PGA TOUR, shot 63 to get to 9 under and one shot clear of Michael Thompson.

Boo Weekley and Graham DeLaet are another shot back after shooting 67 and 68, respectively.

For McIlroy, it marks the third time this season he's failed to make it to the weekend after missing the cut in Abu Dhabi and failing to advance out of the first round of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship.

One of McIlroy's closest friends, Graeme McDowell will be playing this weekend.

McDowell shot 68 Friday and is one of six players at 6 under, along with Lee Westwood and Geoff Ogilvy.

Westwood, who moved to the area in the offseason, has finished in the top 10 here in two of the last three years.

Overnight leader Camilo Villegas.

The 2010 winner of this event, Villegas shot 77 -- a difference of 13 strokes from his opening round -- to miss the cut by a shot.

Other notables heading home early include Henrik Stenson, John Merrick, Ryo Ishikawa, David Duval and Paul Casey.

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Different day, same result. But not necessarily the same feeling for Tiger Woods.

"Well, I didn't hit it anywhere near as good as I did (Thursday)," Woods said after shooting even-par 70 for the second straight day. "I didn't have it today."

Woods, who finished second here a year ago, hit just six fairways and 11 greens on a cool afternoon at PGA National. He had four birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey, leaving him just inside the cut line and nine shots off the lead.

The day certainly started more promising than it ended for Woods.

On the fourth hole, he rolled in a 14-footer for birdie then added another on the par-3 fifth after hitting his tee shot to 6 feet.

Woods gave the birdies back, however, with back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 6 and and 7 before bouncing back with a birdie on No. 9.

On the 13th, Woods found a fairway bunker before hitting into a greenside bunker en route to making double bogey.

It briefly left him on the outside looking in for the cut, but he bounced back with a birdie one hole later.

"I had it going early and then I would lose it," Woods said.

The par-5 18th was a microcosm of Woods day. Hitting 5-iron from what Woods called a "perfect lie" in a fairway bunker, he jerked the shot left and into the gallery, where he failed to get up and down and had to settle for par.

A year ago, Woods eagled the 18th to cap a final-round 62.

"Best shot I hit all day, off that lie, muddy, no grass, downhill lie and water," Woods said. "Then I have a pretty simple up‑and‑down."

And a not so simple climb awaiting this weekend.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Tiger Wods finished second at last year's Honda Classic.

This year he's hoping just to make it to the weekend.

Woods has had an up-and-down day at PGA National, where he remains at even par and just inside the cut line after three birdies, one bogey and a double bogey through 15 holes.

The biggest hiccup for Woods came on the par-4 13th, where he drove it into a fairway bunker, then hit into a greenside bunker, then flew the green on his approach before writing down a 6 on the card.

One hole later, however, he bounced back with a birdie giving him just five birdies for the week.

That also leaves Woods nine shots off the lead of Luke Guthrie, who earlier carded a 63.

Meanwhile, Sean O'Hair and Justin Rose have made a move the other direction in the afternoon wave. O'Hair is 2 under through 16 holes and 6 under for the week, while Rose is 4 under through 15 and also 6 under for the week. Lucas Glover is also 4 under on his round and another stroke back for the week.

By PGATOUR.COM staff

Luke Guthrie carded the best round of his PGA TOUR career on Friday, and it gave him the lead at The Honda Classic.

Guthrie, 23, shot a 7-under 63 in the morning wave to reach 9 under for the week, good for a one-shot lead over Michael Thompson at PGA National.

Guthrie's previous best was a 64 in the final round of the 2012 John Deere Classic and in this year's third round of the Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation.

After a lesson with University of Illinois men's golf coach Mike Small, his coach in college, Guthrie felt that his game was coming around. He even told Small in a conversation on Thursday night that he thought he was on the verge of something special.

"He asked me how I was going and I said this is the best offense I've had on a golf course in awhile," Guthrie said. "I was really hitting good, crisp shots, firing at flags, and I felt like I could have shot 5 under yesterday pretty quickly. I was pretty excited to get back out here and kept it rolling."

He certainly kept it rolling, with birdies on Nos. 12, 13 and 15. He then closed with four birdies on his final nine for a bogey-free round.

Guthrie said he came into 2013 with two goals. One was getting in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship -- which he did not achieve. But he's now in position to achieve his second goal.

"First goal I didn't achieve, I'll share, that I wanted to get to the Match Play," Guthrie said. "But besides that, win a tournament. I keep it pretty simple. I want to win."

Guthrie would also be playing in his first final group -- if his score holds up -- on Saturday. To put it mildly, he's excited.

"I'm pumped for it," he said. "I don't think I've got to the final group yet. I was about three groups off at the John Deere last year I think. I can't wait for that."