ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — The much talked about return of Tiger Woods could be for real this time.
After winning his first tournament in two years last month, Woods goes into the final round of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship with a chance of making it two victories in a row. He shot a 6-under 66 in Saturday’s third round to grab a share of the lead and serve notice he has ironed out his swing and overcome injury woes.
“It’s fun when I’m able to control the golf ball like I did,” Woods said.
There wasn’t a lot of fist pumping from Woods who traded drama for consistency, racking up six birdies in a bogey-free round. It was a memorable performance by the American, mostly for his ability to consistently hit the fairways, tame the par 5s and sink clutch putts including a six-footer for birdie on the final hole.
“It just seemed like I didn’t do a lot of things right but I didn’t do a lot of things wrong today, it was just very consistent,” Woods said.
Woods finished at 11-under and a three-day total of 205. He is tied with newcomer Robert Rock, who birdied his final two holes to earn the 117th-ranked Englishman a first-ever pairing with Woods on Sunday.
Rory McIlroy (68), Peter Hanson (64), Francesco Molinari (66) and Paul Lawrie (68) share third at 9-under. George Coetzee (65), James Kingston (67), overnight leader Thorbjorn Olesen (71) and Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (69) are a shot further back.
Woods is attempting to follow his season-ending victory at the Chevron World Challenge with another win here. He was two shots back after the second round but started climbing up the leaderboard Saturday with an opening birdie, followed by another on No. 7. He stepped up his game on the back nine and grabbed a share of the lead after he just missed eagle putt on 10 and settled for a birdie. He briefly took the outright lead with a birdie on 14. /ap