Tiger Woods' chances of playing his way into contention were slim heading into the third round, but what chance he had evaporated quickly on Saturday. Woods needed a round in the mid-to-low 60s if he was going to be any factor, even on the periphery, on Sunday. He continued to struggle, however, and shot a 3-over 73 and dropped to a tie for 52nd place.
Woods continued to have issues off the tee, finding the rough on his opening tee shot. He scrambled for an opening bogey before dropping another shot two holes later. He ended up making the turn at 37, missing an opportunity to make up ground on some of Oak Hill's easier holes on the front side.
Even when he did find the fairway, Woods wasn't able to take advantage. His approach shots were sharper than they were earlier in the tournament, but his shaky putting and lack of par-saving strokes persisted. Woods' lone birdie on the day came at No. 11. Despite a few other birdie opportunities, he was unable to capitalize. He even played more aggressively, going to the driver off the tee several times, but in the end it made little difference.
Back-to-back bogeys at No. 16 and No. 17 dropped him further down the leaderboard. He salvaged a par on his final hole to finish with a 3-over 73. He is still yet to break par at Oak Hill in seven PGA Championship rounds, according to Justin Ray of ESPN. While he wasn't on the first page of the leaderboard in this instance, this was another chapter in the trend of Tiger's weekend troubles at the majors, which will now be the narrative for six months until the Masters:
Incredible. Five-time tour winner Tiger is now +17 in his last 5 weekend rounds at the majors this year, and all 5 rounds are over par.
— Steve Elling (@EllingYelling) August 10, 2013
Woods is now 4-over for the tournament, 13 strokes behind the leader. He will be an afterthought on Sunday, something few expected after how well he played last week at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. His quest for the 15th major championship of his career will have to wait until at least next April as he wraps up his fifth straight season without a major championship victory.
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