Tiger Woods shot a 5-under 66 at the 147th Open Championship on Saturday, which has allowed him to get to 5 under overall for the week. Woods has never come from outside the top 5 after 36 holes to win a major championship, but he’s currently in a position to do just that at Carnoustie on Sunday.
Woods’ tee time for tomorrow will be 9:25 a.m. EST, and he is paired with Francesco Molinari. NBC begins their coverage at 7 a.m. EST, and it will also be available to watch on the Golf Channel starting at 4:30 a.m. EST. This marks the first time Woods has made the first cut at the British Open since 2014.
Woods spent the first two days at Carnoustie playing it safe, as he had when he won the 2006 Open. The results of these two days, however, were not as effective as the golfer would have hoped. “He was hitting into greens from wayyyy back with smaller margins for error and less chances for birdies,” wrote journalist Brendan Porath. “He wasn’t converting a ton of birdie chances playing holes from 200-plus yards away. He posted two even-par rounds.”
“I think it played a little on the quick side out there this afternoon, the balls were definitely rolling and I thought I played a pretty solid round and unfortunately I didn’t take care of both par 5s,” Woods told Golf Channel. “I had 8-iron into both of them, and made par on both of those and had a little three-wiggle there on 13. So the round certainly could’ve been a little bit better.”
The turning point, according to SB Nation, was when Woods began to take more risks on the green. The golfer is making a concerted effort at being more aggressive on the green, and using his driver more than usual. He hit five drivers through his first 11 holes on Saturday, a big reason why he’s currently in such a competitive spot. Woods reportedly told the Golf Channel that his aggressive approach was intentional, and that he felt it was the only way to make a legitimate run at the championship.
“It seemed like everybody was shooting six, seven under and I figured I could probably do the same and I needed to with the leaders starting at six. I need to go get it,” said Woods. “It’s one of my better rounds I’ve played. I felt I really had control of the ball. It kept me in the fight. If the guys get to 10 (under), five back is certainly do-able.”
That said, Woods recent spat of injuries have made some commentators hesitant to crown him the favorite. “Tiger’s comeback has been impressive, but he’s not what he once was, and neither are the fields he’s up against,” wrote Golf.com. “As much as he’s overcome in the way of injuries, making his way back into the winner’s circle at a major is an even longer ask.”
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