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A beautiful chip-in birdie from the rough on 17 proved Tiger's Sunday highlight.
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- Ever since his opening-round 74, Tiger Woods has been playing catch-up in the 109th U.S. Open. Slowly, he has worked his way up the leaderboard but is running out of holes at Bethpage Black.
The defending champion and three-time winner followed up Saturday's 1-under-par 69 with a 68 Sunday. He has a 54-hole score of 1-over 211, nine strokes behind leader Ricky Barnes.
Woods was scheduled to begin his final round at 6:25 ET Sunday evening with Australia's Michael Sim. The remainder will be played Monday.
"Gotta go low," he said. "That's it."
Overtaking Barnes, who has never won on the PGA Tour, is a tall task for the 14-time major winner, who has never won coming from behind after 54 holes in a major championship.
"You have to play a great round of golf and get some help," said Woods. "Obviously, it's not totally in my control. The only thing I can control is whether I play a good one or not."
Woods completed one hole in his third round on Saturday night, parring the 10th, before play was suspended due to inclement weather. He and playing partner Andres Romero resumed play on the 11th tee at noon ET on Sunday, 4 1/2 hours later than scheduled because more than an inch of rain fell overnight, and the maintenance crew needed extra time to make the course playable. Woods made a par, then lipped out an 18-foot birdie putt at the par-4 12th.
At the par-5 13th, Woods hit two fine shots, then choked up on a sand wedge and spun the ball five feet from the hole. But typical of his week, he lipped out the birdie attempt. Clearly frustrated, Woods made a good save for bogey at the par-3 14th, where he missed the green, almost whiffed his second shot out of thick rough, then gouged his third shot close to the hole.
"The lie wasn't very good," Woods said.
Woods followed with pars at 15 and 16, the broke through with a birdie at the par-3 17th. Probably the loudest fan location on the golf course, Woods gave them something to cheer about. After coming up short-right of the green and finishing in heavy rough, he chopped his second shot into the cup from about 30 yards, electrifying the crowd.
Woods gave himself another good birdie opportunity at the par-4 18th, but missed a 15-foot downhill putt to the right.
He had the turn in even-par 35, 13 strokes behind Barnes. On the front nine, Woods parred the first and second holes, again struggling to gauge the correct speed on the mostly slow, bumpy greens. He did hit a nice recovery shot at the first after pushing his drive into the right trees.
At the par-3 third, he hit his tee shot 15 feet above the hole, then curled in a tricky left-to-right putt for birdie, bending his knees to coax the ball into the cup. Woods followed with a good drive and beautiful 5-wood to the par-5 fourth, easily reaching the green. He gave his long eagle putt a strong run and grazed the right edge of the hole, settling for a tap-in birdie.
After parring the fifth, Woods just missed the green to the left with his approach to the par-4 sixth. His chip shot stopped a foot from the hole for an easy par.
Woods hit a gorgeous second shot to the long, par-4 seventh, winding up 10 feet left of the cup. But his birdie bid never had a chance, bouncing offline halfway to the hole, Woods glaring at the mark in disgust.
Woods gave himself another good look at birdie at the par-3 eighth, but just missed left from about 15 feet. At the par-4 ninth, Woods split the fairway and knocked his approach shot 17 feet past the hole but again failed to convert.
Had Woods finished stronger in the rain-plagued first round, in which he played the last four holes 4-over, or putted better, he would be right in the hunt. Woods used 31 putts in the first round, 30 in the second and 29 on Sunday.
"I finished off the first day very poorly," he said. "Unfortunately, that put me so far back, I've had to make up shots the whole time."
Time and again, Woods has had near-misses on the greens, preventing him from shooting rounds in the mid-60s.
"I have hit the ball well enough to do that, but just haven't made the putts," said Woods. "Today, I was within 15 feet a lot, but just did not have the putts go in. I was lipping it out, burning the edges and just haven't got it right yet."
Starting and stopping the first three rounds due to rain and soggy conditions has been tough on players.
"We can't even remember what day we're playing," Woods said. "It just all blurs together."