Tiger Woods birdies No. 18 to stay in contention at Masters

Birdies were available to be made at Augusta National as Tiger Woods and playing partner K.J. Choi made their way to the first tee for their 2:35 p.m. tee time. They were in today’s next-to-last pairing, ahead only of co-leaders Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood.

Early in the day, Heath Slocum played his front nine in 5-under-par 31, while Steve Marino was finishing up a front-side 32. In all, 26 of the 44 golfers who teed off in front of Woods and Choi were at even-par or better for the day.

As has been the case all week, a solid cluster of patrons took up all the available space between the first tee and Augusta National’s clubhouse and putting green. Fans also lined the ropes all the way down the hill that makes up the first portion of the No. 1 fairway.

Hole No. 18 (Holly)

465 yards, par 4

Tiger Woods birdied. From a prime position in the fairway, his approach from 175 yards was one of the few all day to kick forward to the proper tier of the green. All that was left was a 4-foot swipe to complete his second consecutive 2-under-par 70.

Tournament: 8-under.

Standing: Tied for third, four shots behind leader Lee Westwood (12-under through 17).

Today’s stats: 8 of 14 fairways / 13 of 18 greens / 30 total putts.

Three-round totals: 28 of 42 fairways / 39 of 54 greens / 89 total putts.

Hole No. 17 (Nandina)

440 yards, par 4

Tiger Woods bogeyed. Blocked his drive so far right that he wound up finding his ball in the 15th fairway, then chose to try a sweeping hook down the 15th and around instead of pitching back to the 17th fairway. It didn’t work, landing among the patrons along the 17th green and forcing a tough up-and-down. His pitch was superb, cozying down to 6 feet, but his par save slid by on the right as he hit through the slight break.

Today: 1-under par. Tournament: 7-under.

Standing: Tied for fourth, five shots behind leader Lee Westwood (12-under through 16).

Hole No. 16 (Redbud)

170 yards, par 3

Tiger Woods parred. Placed his tee shot about 16 feet behind the hole, facing a ticklish downhill attempt for birdie. Woods barely tapped the ball, then watched as putt didn’t move right quite as much as he anticipated.

Today: 2-under par. Tournament: 8-under.

Standing: Tied for third, three shots behind co-leaders Phil Mickelson (11-under through 17) and Lee Westwood (11-under through 14).

Hole No. 15 (Firethorn)

530 yards, par 5

Tiger Woods birdied. Caught an unfortunate break when his 3-iron approach caught a gusting wind and ran swiftly through the shallow green. Nor was hit pitch attempt all that good, running 12 feet past the hole. But Woods’ putting stroke returned, pointing his putter at the hole as the ball fell in for his third consecutive birdie.

Today: 2-under par. Tournament: 8-under.

Standing: Tied for third, four shots behind leader Phil Mickelson (12-under through 16).

Hole No. 14 (Chinese Fir)

440 yards, par 4

Tiger Woods birdied. Drive missed into the short rough right of the fairway, but it proved no obstacle to a 179-yard approach shot that touched down softly and rolled 3 feet past the pin. After getting a bit of a read from K.J. Choi’s putt, Woods put his in the heart.

Today: 1-under par. Tournament: 7-under.

Standing: Tied for fourth, five shots behind new leader Phil Mickelson (12-under through 15).

Hole No. 13 (Azalea)

510 yards, par 5

Tiger Woods birdied. Though his 3-wood off the tee left him farther back than he’d hoped, he ripped another onto the green from 248 yards away to give him a chance at a long eagle. Woods’ eagle attempt wasn’t all that close, but he tapped home a 4-foot birdie to even up his scorecard for the first time since the turn.

Today: Even-par. Tournament: 6-under.

Standing: Tied for third, five shots behind co-leaders Phil Mickelson (11-under through 14) and Lee Westwood (11-under through 12).

Hole No. 12 (Golden Bell)

155 yards, par 3

Tiger Woods parred. Tried to ease up on a 9-iron from the tee and wound up putting it in a front bunker. A good recovery blast ran 6 feet past the hole, and he rattled home the par save

Today: 1-over par. Tournament: 5-under.

Standing: Seven shots behind leader Lee Westwood (12-under through 10).

Hole No. 11 (White Dogwood)

505 yards, par 4

Tiger Woods parred. Drive down No. 11’s narrow chute wound up in the short rough right of the fairway, but managed to chase his second shot up onto the front of the green. With the pin all the way on the other side of the green, a long two-putt was satisfactory.

Today: 1-over par. Tournament: 5-under.

Standing: Seven shots behind leader Lee Westwood (12-under through 10).

Hole No. 10 (Camellia)

495 yards, par 4

Tiger Woods bogeyed. From prime position at the bottom of the hill, Woods kept his frustration to a pained expression as his approach shot touched down past the flagstick but didn’t spin back much closer to the front pin position. Sent his birdie attempt 4 feet past the cup, then missed the par save to notch his third three-putt of the day.

Today: 1-over par. Tournament: 5-under.

Standing: Tied for fifth, six shots behind leader Lee Westwood (11-under through 9).

Hole No. 9 (Carolina Cherry)

460 yards, par 4

Tiger Woods parred. Another loose drive sailed off into the trees right of the fairway, leaving him a dicey second shot off a clump of pine needles with an overhanging branch directly in front. Put his approach shot in the middle of the green, but saw the ball dribble back toward the front third. Two-putted from 20 feet.

Today: Even-par. Tournament: 6-under.

Standing: Fourth, five shots behind leader Lee Westwood (11-under through 8).

Today’s stats: 3 of 7 fairways / 7 of 9 greens / 16 total putts.

Hole No. 8 (Yellow Jasmine)

570 yards, par 5

Tiger Woods birdied. Took out some of his frustration on the tee shot and a 3-wood second shot, which came to rest perhaps five feet from the putting surface. Chipped to 5 feet and drained the putt to settle his round somewhat.

Today: Even-par. Tournament: 6-under.

Standing: Four shots behind leader Lee Westwood (10-under through 7).

Hole No. 7 (Pampas)

450 yards, par 4

Tiger Woods bogeyed. A second consecutive three-putt, coming after two loose shots off the tee and from the first cut left of the fairway. Another “dammit� escaped as his approach shot sailed long and left of its target, ending up on the green’s back fringe. His long lag putt went about 7 feet past, and he again missed the comebacker.

Today: 1-over par. Tournament: 5-under.

Standing: Five shots behind leader Lee Westwood (10-under through 5).

Hole No. 6 (Juniper)

180 yards, par 3

Tiger Woods bogeyed. Facing today’s back-right pin position, Woods’ temper flared again when his third consecutive tee shot headed left of its intended target – “Tiger Woods, suck. Goddammit.� Left with an uphill birdie attempt of some 70 feet, he powered his putt 15 feet past the hole. The par save rolled by on the left.

Today: Even-par. Tournament: 6-under.

Standing: Tied for fourth, four shots behind Lee Westwood (10-under through 4).

Hole No. 5 (Magnolia)

455 yards, par 4

Tiger Woods parred. Pulled his drive well left again, leaving him a second shot from just in front of the tree line and with bunkers in front. A big sweeping hook just didn’t have enough juice to get up to the proper tier of the green, rolling down near the front fringe. Woods lagged up to 6 feet and walked away with a two-putt par.

Today: 1-under par. Tournament: 7-under.

Standing: Tied for third, three shots behind Lee Westwood (10-under through 4).

Hole No. 4 (Flowering Crab Apple)

240 yards, par 3

Tiger Woods bogeyed. Pulled his tee shot left for the second consecutive day, this time landing in a greenside bunker. Blasted out past the flagstick, using the green’s slope to let the ball curl back toward the hole. Left with a 12-foot par save, this one rolled to the lip and wouldn’t fall in.

Today: 1-under par. Tournament: 7-under.

Standing: Tied for fourth, two shots behind Lee Westwood (9-under through 3).

Hole No. 3 (Flowering Peach)

350 yards, par 4

Tiger Woods birdied. In three holes today, Woods already has as many birdies of over 10 feet as he did all of yesterday. Again unable to fine-tune his approach shots, this one hardly spun back after flying past the pin. But he had the right line on the 18-foot putt, watching the ball curl on the precise left-to-right line to roll into the cup’s heart.

Today: 2-under par. Tournament: 8-under.

Standing: Tied for second, one shot behind Lee Westwood (9-under through 2).

Hole No. 2 (Pink Dogwood)

575 yards, par 5

Tiger Woods parred. The new low-key Tiger got put to the test with a drive that tailed off into the huge bunker right of the fairway, prompting him to mutter, “Dammit. Ah, Woodrow. Be bad enough.� Forced to lay up, his third shot with a wedge was too conservative and he two-putted for his par.

Today: 1-under par. Tournament: 7-under.

Standing: Two shots behind Lee Westwood, who birdied No. 1 to move to 9-under.

Hole No. 1 (Tea Olive)

445 yards, par 4

Tiger Woods birdied. After plenty of putting frustration over the first two days, Woods finally caught a break when his 15-footer paused and fell in the side door. A 9-iron approach from 150 yards away checked up sooner than he’d anticipated, but any angst was wiped away when his putt dropped into the cup.

Today: 1-under par. Tournament: 7-under.

Standing: One shot behind co-leaders Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood (8-under standing on the first tee).