Golf

Players Championship leaderboard: Tiger Woods finds water, double-bogey results in 4-way tie

Tiger was in cruise control and on his way to a Players Championship, but a yanked tee shot at No. 14 quickly brought the field back into it.

By Brendan Porath May 12, 2013, 6:00pm EDT

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An hour ago, I wrote that the 2013 Players Championship Tiger Woods' to lose and all he needed to do is avoid a blow-up hole, particularly at No. 14 where he's historically had trouble. Welp, Tiger didn't exactly stick to the script of safely conserving his two-shot lead coming into the clubhouse.

More: Complete coverage of The Players Championship

At No. 14, the hole where Woods is most uncomfortable on the course, Tiger absolutely pulled a fairway wood into the lake down the left side. Woods ball went came hard left right off the tee, crossing over the bunker that abuts the fairway and then diving into the drink. His ball went left so quickly that it crossed the red stake marked hazard way back around where the fairway starts just off the tee. According to Golf Channel's Tiger Tracker, the drop was about 40 yards in front of the women's tees.

Looks like about 40 yards in front of ladies' tees. Bogey from here will be a small victory. RT @moachistloves where will he drop?
— GC Tiger Tracker (@GCTigerTracker) May 12, 2013

Mark Rolfing, who's out with Tiger's group and was right behind the tee shot, said the drop looked good but that didn't stop Johnny Miller from trying to stir something up:

Johnny Miller on Tiger’s drop on 14: "That was really, really borderline. I couldn’t live with myself without saying that."
— Ryan Lavner (@RyanLavnerGC) May 12, 2013

Woods was sure to consult with the marshalls, caddies, and his playing partner, Casey Wittenberg before deciding where to drop. It was almost certainly a good drop, but he still had well over 225 yards to the hole and was on a sidehill lie in the rough. Tiger hit a laser fairway wood to put his ball just in front of the green, but could not get up and down for the bogey "save." He blasted his putt past the hole and settled for the double, dropping to 12-under and a four-way tie at the top with Jeff Maggert, Sergio Garcia, and David Lingmerth.

Tiger still has the par-5 16th ahead of him, and he'll get his chances at a couple more birdies, but the water ball has certainly brought the rest of the leaderboard back into it with five holes to go.