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Tiger Tracker: Shot-by-shot recap of Tiger Woods' third-round 66

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Tiger Woods will go into Sunday with a decent shot at his 15th major despite leaving a number of strokes out there.

It was a second straight 4-under 66 in the third round of the PGA Championship despite missing seven decent-to-great looks at birdie over his final eight holes. He reached the clubhouse four back and in a tie for third. So the quest for major No. 15 is alive and well.

We followed his third round, shot by shot. Catch up with what you may’ve missed below:

Hole No. 18: Par 4, 440 yards

OFF THE TEE (6:10 p.m. ET): Another driver that is ROASTED. This one carries 295 in the center and finishes in the right-center around 310. Beautiful. Maybe he can make up for whatever that was with a closing birdie.

APPROACH SHOT (6:17 p.m. ET): That’s a pitching wedge and pretty nice. He spins that to about 10-12 feet under the hole. That is another good birdie look, really his seventh at least decent birdie look in eight holes. Can he finally make one and close out a 65?

ON THE GREEN (6:21 p.m. ET): Never had a chance. This 15-footer misses low and left. That’s somehow a pretty disappointing 66, but Tiger should be right in contention heading into Sunday. Also, remember that this guy was 3 over through two in this tournament.

TIGER ON THE DAY: 4-under 66 (8 under overall, T-3)

Hole No. 17: Par 5, 550 yards

OFF THE TEE (5:45 p.m. ET): A wait on the tee and these tees are moved up today. Tiger takes drives and that is that nice low cut we saw here earlier today and it’s perfect down the left-center. That looks to be 300+ out there. Tiger may have iron into this green in two. This is his last big opportunity today to really close in heading into Sunday.

APPROACH SHOT (5:53 p.m. ET): A 4-iron from about 250 yards, and oh he twirls it, and that one finds the center of the green and rolls all the way to the back level some 18 feet right of the flag. That gives him a legit look at eagle. Oh, baby. If he makes that? This place might explode.

ON THE GREEN (6:02 p.m. ET): Wow, that was horrible. Tiger wanted that putt so bad that he rammed it through the slight left break. That went a good 3-4 feet by on the right, too, and the comebacker hits the left edge and lips out. Wow. He actually has to hole a 3-footer coming back for par and does. But man is that an awful three-putt. Not going to blame him for trying to make eagle, but there’s no excuse for that three-putt.

TIGER ON THE DAY: 4 under through 17 (8 under overall, T-3)

Hole No. 16: Par 3, 232 yards

OFF THE TEE (5:30 p.m. ET): That’s a safe shot, as Tiger can’t quite get this to cut and this ball finishes about 30-35 feet left of the cup. Should be able to two-putt for par.

ON THE GREEN (5:35 p.m. ET): That putt actually was on a good line, but it comes up about six inches short. He really liked it and even started a putter raise, but it was never enough. That would’ve been a raucous birdie. Another ho-hum par. A reachable par 5 upcoming, Tiger could REALLY use a birdie here.

TIGER ON THE DAY: 4 under through 16 (8 under overall, T-4)

Hole No. 15: Par 4, 493 yards

OFF THE TEE (5:10 p.m. ET): Yeah that driver was LAUNCHED. He blistered that down the left-center, and that’s in A+ position. He went after that one, tiny recoil, club twirl and step forward after that drive.

APPROACH SHOT (5:18 p.m. ET): This one from about 170 yards drifts a bit right, but it is good distance control. This is pin-high, 20 feet right of the flag. Not bad, but could really use that birdie.

ON THE GREEN (5:22 p.m. ET): Nope, again always low and left. Just not hitting good putts at the moment. Unless Koepka really falls off on the back nine here, Tiger really needs some sort of kick here at the finish.

TIGER ON THE DAY: 4 under through 15 (8 under overall, T-5)

Hole No. 14: Par 4, 402 yards

OFF THE TEE (4:55 p.m. ET): Iron off the tee, and that gets a twirl. That one is about 270 yards down the pipe. Tiger is still in fine position at the moment, but he needs to get back on the birdie train soon if he wants to be real close to the lead starting Sunday.

APPROACH SHOT (5 p.m. ET): Tiger had 129 yards, and this is pretty nice. Lands about 15 feet right of the flag, and Tiger begs it to get left, and it does as it spins off that right-to-left slope and gets within 8 feet for birdie it looks like. With Koepka birdieing again, Tiger is now five back. This is not must-make for birdie, but we’re getting there.

ON THE GREEN (5:05 p.m. ET): Nope. Always low and left. That’s a fourth straight decent or good look that goes begging. TW starting to get frustrated, as he looked at a leaderboard and knows he’s falling back. He’s only two off second place, but he’s five off the lead.

TIGER ON THE DAY: 4 under through 14 (8 under overall, T-6)

Hole No. 13: Par 3, 192 yards

OFF THE TEE (4:44 p.m. ET): That is a nice 7-iron that goes a touch left of the flag but lands and sticks 12 feet left and beyond the hole. Another nice birdie look upcoming. Koepka did indeed birdie behind to move to 12 under. So this would be a huge birdie to get Tiger back within three.

ON THE GREEN (4:49 p.m. ET): Just a touch low there. That one needed to be put a little farther to the right to drop. Instead it drops left and below the hole late. Sigh. That would’ve been a big birdie. He’s doing fine, but Tiger has definitely stalled in this round at the moment.

TIGER ON THE DAY: 4 under through 13 (8 under overall, T-6)

Hole No. 12: Par 4, 462 yards

OFF THE TEE (4:26 p.m. ET): Jordan Spieth is making a mess of this hole up ahead, which means a long wait on the tee. Anyway, Tiger takes driver and this one is in the fairway!! We’re not kidding, this has found short grass. About 300 yards out there, left-center of fairway. Well that was nice to see.

APPROACH SHOT (4:34 p.m. ET): OK perfect angle from 157 yards, and … that’s solid. Not stone dead or anything, but Tiger flies this about 15 left and beyond the flag and it sticks there. That’s a decent look at birdie upcoming.

ON THE GREEN (4:39 p.m. ET): Just a bit too far left. Tiger made a good run at that one, but it was always a touch too high. It runs a foot by and he taps in for par. Nothing wrong with that, but he’s likely about to fall four behind. By day’s end, you’d still think he has to be 8 under at worst to have a real chance. Probably something around 10 under would really put him in it.

TIGER ON THE DAY: 4 under through 12 (8 under overall, T-5)

Hole No. 11: Par 4, 373 yards

OFF THE TEE (4:07 p.m. ET): An iron off the tee, and do you want to know if he liked it? He gave that a spirited club twirl and this one finishes basically a yard off dead center of the fairway. He’ll have an ideal wedge look in.

APPROACH SHOT (4:14 p.m. ET): This one from 113 yards … and that one is just OK. This one finishes 20 feet left and short of the pin. Let’s contextualize, though: Wind has picked up a bit and that pin is tucked in back. It was tough to be that aggressive then. Yes he could absolutely be closer, but he still has a decent birdie look.

ON THE GREEN (4:18 p.m. ET): Right on line, but that was a good foot short. Gotta hit it, Tiger! Ho-hum two-putt par.

TIGER ON THE DAY: 4 under through 11 (8 under overall, T-5)

Hole No. 10: Par 4, 502 yards

OFF THE TEE (3:47 p.m. ET): This hole has killed him so far with bogeys each of the first two rounds. He takes driver, and … this is a miss to the right. This ends up at least 10 yards into the right rough. It will depend on the lie here. Just what he needed not to do off this tee.

SECOND SHOT (3:53 p.m. ET): That lie was terrible and with water about 40 yards in front of the green, Tiger was forced to lay up. He does so, as he punches this back into the fairway. Leaves himself well inside 100 yards for his third. He’ll have to get up and down for par the old-fashioned way.

THIRD SHOT (3:58 p.m. ET): OK, not bad from there. Lands it 15 feet short of the hole, it hops forward and stops dead. That looks to be 10-12 feet up the hill for par. Not too tough a putt, but it is an important one. If Tiger misses, he’s suddenly four back. Every bogey is a killer out here today.

ON THE GREEN (4:03 p.m. ET): YES! Oh he got that in the right side and he KNEW how important that was. He gave that one a gritty fist pump, snatched it out of the hole with authority. That par save could be monumental.

TIGER ON THE DAY: 4 under through 10 (8 under overall, T-5)

Hole No. 9: Par 4, 432 yards

OFF THE TEE (3:28 p.m. ET): That’s an iron off the tee, and that’s perfect down the right side of the fairway. What’s that? A spirited club twirl, too? Oh yeah, we are all in on this right now.

APPROACH SHOT (3:35 p.m. ET): Maybe Tiger’s first good swing today that wasn’t rewarded. He flushes this from 168 yards but he carried it a little too far. This flies to the back fringe and sticks there. He probably meant to fly that five or so yards shorter, might’ve been adrenaline getting the best of him there. That’ll leave him 40-ish feet down hill. He’ll definitely take two putts from the fringe here and a par.

AROUND THE GREEN (3:39 p.m. ET): Tiger got a little tentative putting there from the fringe, but you know that’s a good defense. Down that hill, you had to be a little safe, and his conservative play leaves him a 2-footer for par.

ON THE GREEN (3:42 p.m. ET): Tiger indeed cleans up for par. An opening 4-under 31 for his second straight round. After beginning this tournament bogey-double, Tiger is 11 under in his last 43 holes. He’s still two back.

TIGER ON THE DAY: 4 under through 9 (8 under overall, T-4)

Hole No. 8: Par 5, 602 yards

OFF THE TEE (3:06 p.m. ET): Another driver in the rough. That was a tiny bit unlucky. It landed in the right side of the fairway and bounded forward and right and just into the rough. He did play a cut, though, so you can’t say that’s too unfortunate. Still, it could’ve stayed in. Unless he gets a peach of a lie, he’ll be laying up.

SECOND SHOT (3:13 p.m. ET): Tiger indeed had to lay up from there. That’s a good one with a mid-iron that finds the left side of the fairway. That will be a wedge third from there. Should note: Tiger was technically within two for a moment after his birdie at No. 7, and then Brooks Koepka drained a birdie putt to move the lead back to 10 under.

THIRD SHOT (3:18 p.m. ET): That’s a lob wedge from 105 yards and that is another beauty. This one lands 10 feet past and left and spins back about 6-7 feet left and under the cup. A great look for three straight birdies.

ON THE GREEN (3:26 p.m. ET): BURIED. IT. Honestly, that tried to wiggle right and just held on, but it dropped in the right side of the cup. Three straight birdies. Two back. This is awesome.

TIGER ON THE DAY: 4 under through 8 (8 under overall, T-3)

Hole No. 7: Par 4, 400 yards

OFF THE TEE (2:52 p.m. ET): Iron here and Tiger likes it. This one finds the very right edge of the fairway. Should be a short iron or wedge in from there.

APPROACH SHOT (2:57 p.m. ET): Tiger takes 9-iron from just inside 150 yards, and that was right over the flag. Lands it 8 feet past the pin, it hops forward and spins right back maybe 2 feet from its pitch mark. An aggressive play that leaves him 8 feet and a great look at back-to-back birdies.

ON THE GREEN (3:03 p.m. ET): Got it! Drops in the left side of the cup, and oh are we in business. THREE. BACK.

TIGER ON THE DAY: 3 under through 7 (7 under overall, T-7)

Hole No. 6: Par 3, 198 yards

OFF THE TEE (2:44 p.m. ET): We could have a bounceback birdie. Tiger takes on this front pin over water while still being safe, as this one lands just on the green and left of the pin and trickles to about 10-12 feet left of the cup. Water was right and short, so good 6-iron that was also strategic. And that is a nice birdie look upcoming.

ON THE GREEN (2:49 p.m. ET): There we go! Tiger buried that, never a doubt. Huge birdie on the course’s toughest hole, especially big for the bounceback factor. If Tiger can go out in 3-under 32 or better, he might really be in business today.

TIGER ON THE DAY: 2 under through 6 (6 under overall, T-10)

Hole No. 5: Par 4, 463 yards

OFF THE TEE (2:20 p.m. ET): Another driver … and another one in the rough. Tiger actually seemed to like that one, but it’s a cut that lands right on the edge of the right intermediate and dances a yard or so right into the rough. Don’t think the lie there is too bad, though. Still, he needs to get that driver figured out ASAP. It’s a broken record, but it’s imperative.

APPROACH SHOT (2:28 p.m. ET): Lie wasn’t terrible, and Tiger gets this one to land on the front of the green, and it races to the back half. There was no way to stop that one from the rough. Probably landed about 10-15 feet from the pin but bounded about 40 feet past. Likely two-putt par.

ON THE GREEN (2:38 p.m. ET): This one was over a ridge and Tiger gave it the sign to slow down as it reached the other side of it, and this one does trickle about 5 feet by. Not his greatest effort and the remaining par putt starts left and grazes the left lip and trickles by. That’s a rough three-putt bogey. Momentum-killer right there.

TIGER ON THE DAY: 1 under through 5 (5 under overall, T-14)

Hole No. 4: Par 4, 516 yards

OFF THE TEE (2:01 p.m. ET): First driver today, and that is a pull into the left rough. Not an awful swing or that far off, but definitely missed his target. We mentioned late in Round 2 that he seemed to get comfortable with a low cut with the driver, he may’ve been trying that there and it didn’t work out. If anything will trip him up today, continuing inconsistency with the driver has to be one of the most likely culprits.

APPROACH SHOT (2:09 p.m. ET): Tiger was left with a 4-iron that he had to hit low under a tree and the lie was pretty bad. He does all he can to muscle this out about 30 yards short of the green. A pretty good result from that spot, he’s in the right fairway short of the green. He’ll have to go over a bunker to get to this right pin, but an up and down is doable here.

AROUND THE GREEN (2:14 p.m. ET): HE ALMOST HOLED IT! Oh wow. That was absolutely perfect, landed it about 15 feet below the cup short of a ridge, it hopped and rolled forward and then took some sidespin right and tracked right at the cup before diving under it right at the last second. That was pretty to watch, for a second we thought it was in. Instead, the ball harmlessly finishes inches right of the hole. A fantastic recovery, he is firing so far.

ON THE GREEN (2:17 p.m. ET): Obviously Tiger cleans that up for par. This has been just the start he needs, now it’s about building on it. In all reality, Tiger probably needs a 66 or better today to really be in contention heading into Sunday. Birdies are everywhere.

TIGER ON THE DAY: 2 under through 4 (6 under overall, T-9)

Hole No. 3: Par 3, 142 yards

OFF THE TEE (1:52 p.m. ET): After that hot start, Tiger makes his first less-than-great swing off the tee here. He dumps a pitching wedge about 40 feet short and right of the hole. The pin is up on a ridge, which means Woods is on a lower level, too. Pretty mediocre shot there for Tiger, but it shouldn’t be a real tough two-putt for him.

ON THE GREEN (1:57 p.m. ET): A great putt from Tiger, as he lags that right on-line and it comes up a foot or so short. His speed control continues to be ideal, as that was almost 40 feet up a tricky ridge. Easy two-putt par.

TIGER ON THE DAY: 2 under through 3 (6 under overall, T-9)

Hole No. 2: Par 4, 418 yards

OFF THE TEE (1:36 p.m. ET): That’s a low bullet iron down the left-center of the fairway. Another great strike. Water is left, too, so you know Tiger has to be somewhat comfortable if he doesn’t mind going in the left section of the fairway with trouble left. Great start so far.

APPROACH SHOT (1:42 p.m. ET): The crowds are already getting loud! Feathers in a draw from 145 yards that lands 3 feet right of the flag, bounces forward and stops 4-5 feet beyond the pin. That was cool. He will have that putt for a birdie-birdie start and to move within four.

ON THE GREEN (1:48 p.m. ET): Got it! That drops in the right-center, and Tiger starts birdie-birdie. He is now just FOUR back.

TIGER ON THE DAY: 2 under through 2 (6 under overall, T-9)

Hole No. 1: Par 4, 427 yards

OFF THE TEE (1:22 p.m. ET): An opening iron and this is just fine down the right side of the fairway. That’s the first drive you want there.

APPROACH SHOT (1:27 p.m. ET): That one from 176 yards is a nice cut 7-iron that lands just below pin-high 20 feet left and rolls to about 15 feet from the pin. That’ll leave him a decent opening birdie look.

ON THE GREEN (1:32 p.m. ET): DEAD. CENTER. We have an opening birdie from TW! That was just a beautifully played hole from start to finish. The crowd knew it was in 3 feet from the hole, that’s how pure that putt was. He gave it a small fist pump, too. We’re off!

TIGER ON THE DAY: 1 under through 1 (5 under overall, T-12)

Pre-round

Tiger tees off at 1:21 p.m. ET. In the meantime, here’s a look at how he felt about his 66:

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