Tiger Woods came out of the gate in the third round of the Hero World Challenge like he wanted to shoot 59 and take over all the attention of the sports world on an otherwise football-heavy weekend. Woods birdied four of the first five holes on Saturday, including this absurd bunker shot on No. 5.


He scooted all the way up to T3 on the leaderboard. Forget the process of coming back slowly, Woods looked like he was making one of his vintage Saturday charges to win the tournament! Only Hideki Matsuyama stayed well clear of him throughout the day. For a while, it seemed as if Woods was going to play his way into the final pairing on Sunday, which was basically an incredible improbability three days ago.

It all came undone late, though, as Woods made two straight bogeys at Nos. 13 and 14 followed by an ugly double bogey at the final hole to shoot 2-under 70. His driver betrayed him late (as it has for most of the week), and he hit a second shot out of the sand and into the water on the par-4 18th hole.

Woods only hit six of 13 fairways and was again saved by his putter throughout the day (only 26 putts in 18 holes). This might be the biggest revelation of the week: He once again looks like an elite-level putter. That is the formula for contending in major championships again. Woods is in 10th place after three rounds in the Bahamas (albeit 11 strokes back of leader Hideki Matsuyama).

"The biggest surprise for me as a player who has taken time off before in the past is finding the flow in the round," said Woods. "For three straight days I got off to great starts. Two of the three days I didn't continue it."

Woods got out of the gate in a hurry on Thursday as well but stumbled to a 1-over 73. He did close on Friday with a 32 on the back nine for a 7-under 65. Saturday was more like Thursday with a 38 on the back nine and 70 overall.

Still, all of this is gravy for Woods. Him simply getting through the week without injury was the biggest win possible, and he flirted with a lead (!) in the tournament full of top-20 golfers pretty deep into Saturday afternoon. That's preposterous.

"One thing I've been good at over the years is eliminating the noise," said Woods. "I've done a pretty good job of that over my career. Coming back for this one there was a lot. I had to stay focused on what I needed to do. Overall I'm so happy to be back out here competing again and fighting against these guys. I missed it."

It's clear the crowds have missed him, too. And no matter what happens on Sunday, this week has been obscenely successful for Tiger as 2017 looms on the horizon.