Course designer Ernie Els was hoping for some wind at Albany and he got it on Saturday, a lot of it. Not one player in the 18-man field managed to break 70 and Tiger Woods got a major reality check on the third day of his comeback. Here’s how things shook out on moving day at the Hero World Challenge:
Charlie Hoffman is in charge with 18 to play. His 70 was low round among the top eight and got him to 14-under par and he’ll take nice five-shot lead into Sunday’s finale.
Tiger Woods got a major reality check as the winds came up and were steady all day, putting some teeth back into a golf course that was generously surrendering birdies the first two rounds. Four front nine bogeys gave him a 40 going out, nine shots higher than his front nine score on Friday. He had to get a couple of birdies coming in just to shoot 75. He’s four over and 10 shots behind the leader. “I just couldn’t get it turned around,” Woods lamented. “It kept going the wrong way.”
Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth are the two men closest to Hoffman. Rose shot 71, Spieth 72 and they’re tied for second at nine-under par.
First-time competitor in the event, Francesco Molinari’s 71 made him the only man in at eight-under par.
Rickie Fowler (72), Patrick Reed (71), Matt Kuchar (7) and Tommy Fleetwood (74) are all in at seven-under par.
As bad as Woods’ day was, he still beat the world’s No. 1 player. Dustin Johnson shot 76 to eliminate himself from serious contention. He’s even par. Henrik Stenson’s 77 was the worst round of the day and left him ahead of only Brooks Koepka, who is still at the bottom on the field at five-over par.
