As Tiger Woods falls, Matt Kuchar rises

On an afternoon when Tiger Woods suffered through his worst nine holes as a professional, Matt Kuchar overcame the inclement weather to take a two-shot lead at the Memorial Tournament.

With swirling winds and fast greens that continue to bedevil much of the field at Muirfield Village, Kuchar shot a two-under 70 for the third round. He had talked this week about the difficulty of dealing with the weather conditions.

“If you’ve got steady winds, you’re fine,” he said. “But when it comes up and down you have to make changes.”

Woods started on the back nine and shot a 44 on his way to a round of 79 that left him 16 strokes behind the lead.

Second-round leader Bill Haas shot four over to slip three strokes back.

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