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Tiger had no trouble finding the fairway Saturday.
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- Unable to get hot with his putter, Tiger Woods shot a frustrating 1-over-par 73 Saturday to fall off the pace in the 139th Open Championship at the Old Course. He three-putted three times on the spacious greens, ruining a day of excellent ball-striking.
"I hit it good today," a composed Woods said afterward. "I mean, I striped it all day. I just didn't get anything out of the round. I couldn't build any momentum and wasn't making any putts."
Woods began the third round at 4-under 140 and was tied for 14th, eight strokes behind Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa. He's now at 3-under 213, 11 shots off Oosthuizen's pace.
On Sunday, Woods will be looking to do something he has never done before: win a major championship coming from behind in the last round. He has held the 54-hole lead in all 14 of his major victories.
"I just got to get off to a good start," said Woods. "Hopefully, I can get some momentum going early. I'm playing better than my position."
A lot will depend on the weather.
"I don't know what's going to happen," he said. "The forecast is for it to be windy and possibly a few showers here and there, but you don't know. We'll see what happens."
Paired with pal Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland, Tiger had a friendly chat with Clarke on the putting green before teeing off, exchanging stories and wisecracks.
"Hello, knucklehead," smiled Woods, dressed in black pants, a black turtleneck and black shirt with a pink stripe.
Clarke grinned, but there wasn't much laughter after that. For the second straight day, the wind was howling, although not quite as fierce as the 40 mph gusts Friday. Still, it was strong enough to make players think twice before hitting each shot. At least the sun was out, warming conditions considerably.
"We're both focusing, we're both grinding, both trying to fight our way back in this tournament," said Woods. "With these conditions, it's tough out there. Granted, we're great friends, but still, we're competitors out there."
Woods hit a solid 3-wood at the first and punched his second shot 15 feet left of the hole. His birdie putt looked true but slid low. He nearly birdied the par-4 second, too. Woods wound up 50 feet left of the cup with his approach, then watched in disbelief as the ball horseshoed around the cup.
"If those go in, it's a whole different ballgame," he said.
After two-putt pars at the third and fourth, Woods smashed a big drive into the wind at the par-5 fifth. With little chance to reach the green, but trying to make something good happen to close ground on the leaders, he went with a 3-wood from an uphill lie and fell backward after a massive swing, the ball sliding right and finding a gorse bush. Woods took an unplayable lie, resulting in a one-stroke penalty and he went on to sustain a two-putt bogey.
"It's just one of those things where I stripe it right down the middle, and I've got this slope to deal with," he said. "I thought I could get a 3-wood into the ball and from there I can two-putt from down at the base of the bowl. I started it probably about 40 yards left of the green and ended up in the right gorse. A little bit of wind."
Following a long two-putt par at the sixth hole, Woods squandered a good birdie opportunity at the short, par-4 seventh, two-putting from about 10 feet.
At the 175-yard, par-3 eighth, he misjudged the helping breeze, and his ball bounced through the green and down a slope. Woods compounded the mistake by leaving his chip shot 30 feet short of the cup and two-putted for a bogey.
For the third consecutive day, Woods birdied the 352-yard, par-4 ninth and made the turn in 1-over 37.
Turning downwind, Woods parred 10 and 11, the latter a two-putt from more than 50 feet, which wasn't easy with his pant legs flapping in the wind. Yardage means little when it blows on a links course, and Saturday was a mental and physical challenge for all.
Following a good drive at the par-4 12th, Woods hit his third shot three feet from the hole and converted for his second birdie. But he surrendered a stroke at the 465-yard, par-4 13th, three-putting from long range and was then fooled on a six-foot par putt.
Needing birdie at the par-5 14th, Woods powered a long drive down the center of the fairway and safely threaded his long-iron second shot between menacing cross-bunkers, the ball rolling to the back of the green. Faced with nearly a 100-foot downhill putt, he rammed his eagle attempt 25 feet past the hole and missed coming back for a disappointing par.
Again, Woods battled back, making birdie at the 455-yard, par-4 15th hole, receiving a well-done hand slap from caddie Steve Williams. At the par-4 16th, Woods two-putted for a par.
Next up was the famous Road Hole, one of the most difficult and intimidating par-4s in the world. Woods pulled his drive into the thick fescue on the left and was forced to punch out into the fairway. He hit his third shot to the right of the road, just shy of the rock wall, but caught a break, the ball stopping in short grass. Woods flopped his fourth shot seven feet past the hole and sunk the putt to salvage bogey.
At the par-4 18th, Woods drove the green for the second straight day, the ball winding up on the back of the green, 100 feet past the front pin placement. He left his eagle putt 10 feet short and missed his birdie try.
Woods, who is using a new Nike Method putter this week, putted beautifully during a first-round 67, but has struggled since. The fault, he says, is not with the putter.
"I just need to have better speed," he said.
Earlier in the year, Woods had trouble finding fairways. Not anymore.
"Well, ironically enough, now I'm driving it beautifully and I'm not making any putts," he said. "It's just one of those things where you have to be patient. I was grinding and was as patient as I possibly could be today, and I was just trying to plod my way along and didn't get anything going."
Woods tees off his final round Sunday morning with 2009 U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover at 7:20 ET.