After 54 holes, Tiger Woods held a three-shot lead and was in prime position to tie Sam Snead’s record of 82 PGA Tour wins.
Woods shot consecutive rounds of 6-under 64 at the inaugural Zozo Championship at Accordia Narashino Country Club in Chiba, Japan, and followed up with an 4-under 66 Saturday night in the third round. In order to finish the tournament early Monday morning in Japan, the players started the fourth round after the third. Woods played 11 holes before play was suspended due to darkness. He was 2 under on the round (18 under overall), three shots ahead of Hideki Matsuyama.
Follow Woods’ final round with shot-by-shot analysis below.
Zozo Championship: Leaderboard | Best photos
Hole 14 – Par 5
Five holes left. Two par 5s, two par 4s, one par 3. Cuts this one off the tee down the fairway perfectly. Hideki is up on the green with a birdie putt, and I’ve gotta say, it looks like an absolute zoo out there. The biggest galleries by far have been Tiger and Hideki’s, you honestly can’t tell the difference between the two size-wise.
Hole 13 – Par 3
He’s not going away quietly. Tiger goes pin-seeking here at No. 13 after giving a shot back and lands this one inside eight feet below the hole. Uphill birdie putt awaiting. For how good of an effort that was off the tee, it was equally as bad on the green. Took his time reading it but never gave it a shot to drop. Disappointing par. Two-shot lead still, should be three.
TIGER ON THE DAY: 1 under thru 13 (17 under overall).
Hole 12 – Par 4
SHOWTIME, FOLKS. Back in his red shirt/black vest combo, which worked like a charm yesterday. He begins with a driver down the left side that lands in the rough and takes a member’s bounce into the fairway. If that’s foreshadowing, I’ll quote the great theologian Porky Pig: That’s all, folks. 211 yards to the flag and ohhhhh boy he slammed his club immediately. He hasn’t shown that kind of emotion all week long. It’s shocking he just missed the green there with how good his iron play has been.
He’s in the bunker guarding the front of the green, but has plenty of room to work with. The out is clean from the sand but it just doesn’t climb up onto the ledge where the pin sits, and rolls back and further away from the cup. That’s a good 30-plus feet left for par. Lags this one up to a few feet, missing low and left. That’s a bogey. He’s known to start slow, but, not ideal today.
TIGER ON THE DAY: 1 under thru 12 (17 under overall).
Hole 11 – Par 4
Another driver into the rough. Just isn’t as polished as he was the first two rounds off the tee. From the rough his approach comes up short again. From there he hits a gorgeous chip to set up a tap-in par. That’s the final hole of the day.
TIGER ON THE DAY: 2 under thru 11 (18 under overall). Leads by three.
Hole 10 – Par 4
To start the back we’ve got a fairway metal off the tee and it’s into the right rough. Should be okay over there. He went pin-seeking here but winds up 20-plus feet after the roll. Really caught that one clean. Two putt par, solid effort from there to clean up the hole and keep his five-shot lead.
TIGER ON THE DAY: 2 under thru 10 (18 under overall).
Hole 9 – Par 4
The lead is now five and just like on No. 8, TW’s drive finds the fairway. His approach is just as nice, right at the flag. Shall we close out the first nine of the final round with a birdie? Oh. We shall not. Just misses this one, but hey, two-putt par.
TIGER ON THE DAY: 2 under thru 9 (18 under overall).
Hole 8 – Par 4
Driver here on No. 8 finds the right side of the fairway. When he hits fairways … he makes birdie … just saying. He puts some English on this approach and spins back to inside 15 feet. But guess what? It’s another two-putt par, because why not?
TIGER ON THE DAY: 2 under thru 8 (18 under overall).
Hole 7 – Par 3
Middle of the green here with his tee shot. It’s a birdie chance, uphill, just he way he likes ’em. Pace and line didn’t quite match, but both were solid. Two-putt par. He’ll take that all day long.
TIGER ON THE DAY: 2 under thru 7 (18 under overall).
Hole 6 – Par 5
Back to the driver and this one is nice and smooth down the fairway. He goes for the green in two here and misses to the left with a fairway metal. He winds up in a retention area left of the green, with an uphill chip awaiting. Could get frisky here. He’s shortsided, not much to work with, and still manages to get inside five feet. Anotha one (DJ Khaled voice, a reference only like 10 of you reading will probably understand). Birdie. Four shots up.
TIGER ON THE DAY: 2 under thru 6 (18 under overall).
Hole 5 – Par 3
Here we go! Tiger has a chance to bounce back after a perfect tee shot here on the first par 3 of his final round. He sticks it inside 8 feet and cans the birdie putt. Nobody this weekend is hitting their irons like Tiger.
TIGER ON THE DAY: 1 under thru 5 (17 under overall).
Hole 4 – Par 4
Tiger’s a man of the people on this hole, blasting his driver into the gallery on the right. His recovery is nice, but comes up short. Time to scramble again. No beating around the bush here: The chip was a poor effort and the par putt misses. Bogey.
TIGER ON THE DAY: Even thru 4 (16 under overall).
Hole 3 – Par 3
We’re testing the short game here on the par-3 third. The tee shot misses the green, so he’ll need to scramble for this par. His chip is pretty solid, but it’s a couple feet away. Just outside the friendship gimme zone if you’re playing with your friends. He converts. Moving on.
TIGER ON THE DAY: 1 under 3 (17 under overall).
Hole 2 – Par 4
Tiger goes iron here on No. 2 and boy is it perfect. His approach on is inside 20 feet, probably closer to 15. Let’s see if the putter is still hot. Nope. This one slides past and he taps in for par.
TIGER ON THE DAY: 1 under 2 (17 under overall).
Hole 1 – Par 4
We start the final round with a fairway metal and it’s in the short stuff. His iron play stays hot and he sticks this one to seven feet and cans the birdie. This tournament is his to lose. Leads by three.
TIGER ON THE DAY: 1 under 1 (17 under overall).
Warm-up
Did you miss Tiger Woods’ third round 4-under 66 on Saturday night? The PGA Tour has you covered.
