Saturday 3 December 2016 23:59, UK
Tiger Woods insisted he was just happy to be back in competition as he made light of another disappointing back nine on the third day of the Hero World Challenge.
His performance was similar to his first round in almost 16 months on Thursday, when he was four under after eight holes only to struggle home in 40, although he bounced back impressively with a bogey-free 65 on day two.
Woods got off to another strong start on Saturday as he birdied the opening three holes and then holed out from sand at the fifth to get within two strokes of the lead.
But he missed a number of fairways after the turn and, after dropped shots at the 13th and 14th, he found water with an ambitious approach from a waste area at the last and closed with a double-bogey for the second time this week.
"For three straight days, I've got off to great starts. For two of those days, I haven't been able to keep it going," said Woods after signing for a 70 which left him 11 shots adrift of runaway leader Hideki Matsuyama. "But I am so happy to be out here. I missed it.
"I'm so happy I'm back out here competing again. It has been a tough road to get back to this point. I've finally been able to switch into a competitive mode again.
I'm so happy I'm back out here competing again. It has been a tough road to get back to this point
"I probably couldn't get off to a better start than I did. Generally, when I come back from lay-offs, that's the most concerning part of the game - getting off to halfway decent starts. But I've been into the round early, and I've been able to build a significant amount of positive shots and go under par early.
"Unfortunately, I haven't been able to keep it going, except for yesterday. I didn't hit the ball that poorly today, but I hit bad putts in the middle part of the round.
"I'm just not quite there, but it's coming. The great thing is I'm building and each day I've gotten a little bit stronger. I'm definitely not as fresh as I would like to be, and no matter how much you work out it's very different than being in playing shape. There are all these different things you can't simulate at home.
"But I wouldn't be here doing this if I didn't feel like I could play at the highest level. I have too much pride," added Woods, who also expressed his admiration for the performance of Matsuyama, who made an eagle and seven birdies in a 65 which lifted him to 19 under par.
"I knew somebody was going to go low, but I thought it was going to be probably three, four guys that would post this kind of a score," Woods said. "But Hideki is just playing unbelievable golf."
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