SAN DIEGO _ It was something of a mirage, Tiger Woods' early charge in the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open on Saturday.
Going off 11 groups in front of the threesome of leaders on the Torrey Pines South Course, Woods stirred a buzz by shooting a front nine of 4-under 32, and at one point he was only two shots off the pace of then-leader Ryan Palmer.
In search of his record-setting 83rd PGA Tour win, could Woods produce enough magic the rest of the way to make Sunday's final round a must-watch event?
He could not. Woods hit a wall after making the turn for home on the far side of the Torrey Pines property. He shot 1 over on the back, making a 15-footer for a mere par on the finishing hole to salvage a 3-under-par 69.
With Jon Rahm playing six groups behind him and firing a 7-under-par 65 to seize the lead at 12 under, Woods _ at five shots behind _ carved only one stroke off the deficit he faced when the fog-delayed round began.
With 13 players in front of him and another three locked in with the same score, it would take an extraordinary set of circumstances for Woods to capture his eighth Farmers and make history. He shot a 67 last year on Sunday, and that almost certainly would not be good enough this time.
"The goal was to get to double digits (in total score) at the end of the day," said Woods, who needed to score 66 to get there. "I figured that would be within maybe the last couple of groups going off tomorrow. I wasn't quite able to get there, but hopefully tomorrow I can get off to another quick start and keep it going."
The opening shot looked all-too-familiar on No. 1 South, with Woods driving off line and into the left fairway bunker. But from there he hit an approach to 14 feet and drained the birdie that was a nice answer to the double bogey he suffered on the hole in the second round.
"I was going to say something going up to the green with Joey (LaCava, his caddie), but I decided to keep my mouth shut this time," Woods said with a grin.
"I started woofin' on the back of the green."
Woods made an 8-foot birdie at the par-3 third, drained a 14-foot putt for birdie at the par-5 sixth, and striped his approach to 4 feet at the par-5 ninth.
That would be the last red number. Woods "stuck it in the ground" on his tee shot at the par-3 11 and three-putted for his only bogey of the day. He went from rough off the tee to rough on the second shot at the par-5 13th, and after hitting a bunker off the tee at 18, he overcooked his third-shot approach into the back greenside bunker.
"Just never really got anything going coming home," Woods said.
That he was so pleased to save par at 18 said something about the day.
"That feels huge," Woods said.
