Tiger Woods moved into contention with a third-round five-under 66 at The Open Championship, giving him an opportunity to chase the 15th Major win of his career Sunday at Carnoustie.
Woods is now five under through the first three rounds. When he walked off the course, he was two shots off the lead, held at that point by Kevin Kisner.
The 66 was Woods’ lowest round at a Major since the second round of the 2011 Masters, when he also shot 66. It’s his lowest at The Open since a second-round 65 in the 2006 Open, when he won at Royal Liverpool.
For a brief stretch after a birdie at the par-five 14th, Woods held a share of the lead at six under. He had a chance to take the outright lead on the next hole but missed a makeable birdie putt.
Kisner, the 36-hole co-leader who teed off two hours and 45 minutes after Woods, soon birdied the 3rd hole to take the outright lead. Woods then suffered his only bogey of the day at the par-three 16th to fall two strokes back.
Woods hasn’t won a Major since the 2008 US Open when he played on basically one leg, with issues to his left knee requiring surgery two days after his win. His last victory on the PGA TOUR was the 2013 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.
Woods birdied both par fives Saturday, continuing to rely on his accuracy off the tee to avoid trouble at Carnoustie. He leads the field this week in driving accuracy, but nearly found trouble off the tee at the 18th when his tee shot was just inches from finding the Barry Burn.
Instead, he wound up in the rough and chipped back into the fairway, then followed with a terrific wedge shot to save par.
