Dustin Johnson holds four-stroke lead at Masters; Tiger Woods falls back
Tiger Woods didn’t make up ground in his attempt to defend his 2019 Masters title, finishing the third round with an even par 72. He is 11 shots back of leader Dustin Johnson, who shot a seven-under 65 on Saturday to take a four-stroke lead at 16 under.
Here’s a recap of Woods’ third round:
No. 18, Holly: Par 4, 465 yards | Result: Par | Score: -5 (T21)
Woods lands in the rough to the right of the fairway with his 282-yard drive off the tee. After a nice approach shot, he manages to sink a three-footer on his final shot to make par on the hole and for the round.
No. 17, Nandina: Par 4, 440 yards | Result: Par | Score: -5 (T23)
Woods just misses the fairway off the tee about 200 yards away from the flag. His approach lands well short of the flag, about 45 feet away. He makes a great putt that just skirts the edge of the hole to miss his birdie chance. Woods then makes a three-footer for par.
No. 16, Redbud: Par 3, 170 yards | Result: Par | Score: -5 (T22)
Woods’ tee shot falls on the shallow side on the front of the green. He’ll have to spin it up hill just right at least 40 feet to give himself a chance to make par. His first putt runs out of steam about four feet from the hole before he makes par.
No. 15, Firethorn: Par 5, 530 yards | Result: Par | Score: -5 (T20)
Woods once again makes a solid tee shot to land just inside the right side of the fairway 244 yards out. His approach is solid, sticking on the green about 18 feet away from the flag. Woods’ first putt rolls just left of the hole, but he sinks a two-footer for birdie. Woods is back to even for the day. He trails leader Dustin Johnson by nine.
No. 14, Chinese Fir: Par 4, 440 yards | Result: Par | Score: -4 (T25)
Woods hits the middle of the fairway with a 280-yard drive. His approach shot is even better, landing 10 feet from the pin — arguably his best shot of the day. He has to settle for par after just missing the birdie putt. He trails leader Dustin Johnson by 10 strokes.
No. 13, Azalea: Par 5, 510 yards | Result: Par | Score: -4 (T23)
Woods drives over the trees lurching through the left side of the fairway to set up a clear approach from 205 yards out. His second shot is not nearly as pretty — it hooks wide to the left and stops just in front of the bunker ahead of the creek. He can’t find redemption with his third shot, which falls to the left of the pin before rolling off the green about 20 feet away from the pin. Woods manages to make par after sinking a putt from 10 feet out. That easily could have been a bogey, but Woods pulled through with a short game that has been pretty strong today.
No. 12, Golden Bell: Par 3, 155 yards | Result: Birdie | Score: -4 (T23)
Woods makes a near-perfect tee shot to land nine feet away from the hole before sinking his first birdie of the round. With Dustin Johnson sitting at -14 for the tournament (thru seven holes today), Woods will need a lot more of this to defend his title. But it appears his back may be bothering him — he was slow to bend over and pick up the ball after the putt.
No. 11, White Dogwood: Par 4, 505 yards | Result: Bogey | Score: -3 (T26)
A 307-yard drive lands slightly to the left side of the fairway to set up a favorable line to the flag 189 yards away. The approach angles too far to the right, leaving him off the green with about 20 yards to the cup. Woods overshoots the pin, setting up a challenging 15-footer for par, which he fails to sink. Woods settles for his second bogey of the day.
No. 10, Camellia: Par 4, 495 yards | Result: Par | Score: -4 (T22)
Another fine drive by Woods puts him in front of the approach bunker with about 186 yards to the pin. Woods gets a huge break when his hooked approach hits a tree and bounces back toward the edge of the green. He just misses the birdie put and gets away with a lucky par.
No. 9, Carolina Cherry: Par 4, 460 yards | Result: Par | Score: -4 (T22)
Woods hits 308 yards to the tee to get around the bank of trees to the left and set up a clear line of sight to the pin 152 yards away. His second shot lands just beyond the green to the right of the pin. A great third shot puts him two feet from the pin to save par. Tiger shoots a one-over 37 through the front nine. He’ll need more to challenge the leaders.
No. 8, Yellow Jasmine: Par 5, 570 yards | Result: Bogey | Score: -4 (T22)
After overcoming his early struggles off the tee on the first two holes, Woods hits into the pine needles on the left side of the fairway while trying to avoid the bunker on the right. His second shot leaves him just outside pine-straddled rough with about 162 yards to the pin. He follows that up with a crisp third shot that lands on the green about 55 feet from the pin. Woods overshoots the pin by at least 10 feet on the birdie attempt. He has to settle for his first bogey since No. 7 on Friday. He trails leader Dustin Johnson (-12 thru 3) by eight strokes.
No. 7, Pampas: Par 4, 450 yards | Result: Par | Score: -5 (T19)
A solid, 298-yard drive off the tee keeps Woods on the fairway as he looks to thread the needle and avoid the bunkers with his approach. Woods narrowly avoids one of the front bunkers to the left of the pin and manages to come off the slope to get to within six feet of the hole on his third shot. He then sinks another par putt to remain even for the round. Woods isn’t making mistakes, but he’ll need more to get closer to the leaders.
No. 6, Juniper: Par 3, 180 yards | Result: Par | Score: -5 (T18)
Woods hits solid off the tee, landing about 22 feet from the pin. He barely misses the birdie putt and finishes with a short putt for par to remain even for the round, but six shots back of leader Dustin Johnson.
No. 5, Magnolia: Par 4, 455 yards | Result: Par | Score: -5 (T18)
Woods hits a straight, 290-yard drive, avoiding the bunkers to the left at the kink of the fairway. He follows up with another fine approach shot, getting over the green’s false front to land 25 feet away from the pin. Woods can’t make the long putt, but he sinks a five-footer to secure par.
No. 4, Flowering Crab Apple: Par 3, 240 yards | Result: Par | Score: -5 (T19)
Woods’ drive goes just over the green and lands in the downslope about 18 yards to the left of the hole. Not a great start. But Woods saves himself with a great second shot off the slope to set up an easy two-footer for par. Great recovery from the 15-time major winner. Woods has been strong around the greens so far.
No. 3, Flowering Peach: Par 4, 350 yards | Result: Par | Score: -5 (T19)
Woods hits a nice-looking drive straight down the fairway to land about 63 yards from the pin. Woods lets his chance for birdie fly away after his putt from nine feet out goes wide left.
No. 2, Pink Dogwood: Par 5, 575 yards | Result: Par | Score: -5 (T17)
Woods lands in the right-side bunker off the tee with about 277 yards to go to the pin. He then hits out of the trap to keep it on the fairway to set up a straight approach to the green from about 170 yards out. Woods then makes a beautiful approach, landing 10 feet from the cup to set up a decent chance at birdie — if he can manage the steep downhill putt. Woods lips the birdie putt and has to settle for par. Tough break.
No. 1, Tea Olive: Par 4, 445 yards | Result: Par | Score: -5 (T17)
Woods’ third round gets off to a rough start after he tees off into the right-side bunker off the green. Out of the bunker, his approach shot lands about 55 feet from the pin. He manages to make par after missing by about four feet on his birdie putt. A decent finish to the hole after a tough start. He remains four shots behind the leaders.
Here’s the leaderboard heading into the third round:
Woods finished the second round of the 2020 Masters with a one-under-par 71 to remain four shots behind the leaders heading into the third round. He sits at five under for the tournament, tied with Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Scottie Scheffler and Corey Conners.
Five golfers — Jon Rahm, Abraham Ancer, Cameron Smith, Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson — sit atop the leaderboard at nine under with the third round getting underway.
Woods will be playing the third round alongside Rickie Fowler and Billy Horschel.
Be sure to check back for live updates and scores from the third round of the Masters.
More coverage:
Bryson DeChambeau feeling ‘really odd’ amid barely making Masters cut
Top-ranked Dustin Johnson among five players tied for Masters lead
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