GOLF

Tracking Tiger: Follow hole-by-hole look at Woods' Saturday round

USA TODAY Sports

NASSAU, Bahamas – Tiger Woods kept piling up positives in his return to competitive golf after an absence of nearly 16 months.

Tiger Woods 'dialed in,' shoots bogey-free 65 at Hero World Challenge

Woods began his third round Saturday in the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Club with three birdies, all from within 5 feet, and then blasted in from another bunker from 25 yards in the fifth hole to move to double-digits under par and within striking distance of the lead.

As was the case in the first two rounds, Woods was in control of his distance and accuracy, which blended well with his power. There has been no signs of rust as Woods has made 17 birdies in his first 45 holes.

All facets of his game are in hand.

After a massive drive on the first, he hit a flip wedge to 2 feet. Then he hit a 9-iron to four feet on the second. Two big blasts and a deft chip on the third led to his third birdie in a row from three feet on the third.

He missed his first green at the fourth – he hasn’t hit the green in regulation this week – but saved par from five feet. On the fifth he hit his first truly poor shot, coming out of his swing and leaving the ball well short of the green in a bunker. But he pulled magic out of his bag to knock it in for a birdie.

His lone bogey came the result of a silly mistake on the par-5 sixth. After a solid drive and a fine approach, he had less than 90 yards. Into the wind, he tried to hit a punch wedge but the wind got ahold of the ball and blew it 50 feet short. From there, Woods three-putted for the first time this week.

He made the turn in 4-under-32 but by the time he got to the 11th tee he was seven shots behind pace-setting Hideki Matsuyama.

Follow along as we track Woods' return to golf, hole-by-hole.

Front nine

Hole 1: Par 4

  • Birdie - Back to making golf look easy, Woods drilled a drive, followed by an approach shot that settled just feet from the hole. A tap-in birdie moves Woods to seven-under par for the tournament (one-under on the round).

​Hole 2: Par 3

  • Birdie - Dialed in on par-3's, Woods stuck his tee shot close and scores another birdie to move to eight-under par for the tournament (two-under on the round).

​Hole 3: Par 5

  • Birdie - Another great drive followed by a pured fairway wood left Woods with an up-and-down chance for a third consecutive birdie which he converted. Woods is now nine-under par for the tournament (three-under on the round).

​Hole 4: Par 4

  • Par - Another signature club twirl means yet another great drive from Woods set up an approach that fell short of the green. Woods two-putted to save par and remain nine-under par for the tournament (three-under on the round).

​Hole 5: Par 3

  • Birdie - His first errant shot of the day ended up in the bunker off the tee, but Woods holed out his pitch for his fourth birdie in his first five holes, moving to ten-under par for the tournament (four-under on the round).

​​Hole 6: Par 5

  • Bogey - Woods came up short with just about every shot, except his drive. He pushed his par putt right, bogeying the hole to drop to nine-under par for the tournament (three-under on the round).

​Hole 7: Par 4

  • Birdie - Trying to drive the short par-4, Woods' tee shot ended up in a bunker in front of the green. A solid out gave Woods a chance at birdie he converted to get back to ten-under par for the tournament (four-under on the round).

​​Hole 8: Par 3

  • Par - Nothing fancy at No. 8. Woods hit the green, missed a birdie chance and tapped in for par to remain at ten-under par for the tournament (four-under on the round).

​Hole 9: Par 5​

  • Par - A tough lie after his drive missed to the left had Woods scrambling to reach the green in regulation and make par. Woods closed out his front nine with a four-under 32.

Back nine

Hole 10: Par 4

  • Par - Woods scrambled again to reach the green-in-regulation, sliding his birdie putt past the hole but connecting on the par putt to remain at ten-under par for the tournament (four-under on the round).

​Hole 11: Par 5

  • Birdie - Woods' sweet stroke with the Scotty Cameron putter continued, draining a birdie putt getting up-and-down out of a bunker to move to 11-under par for the tournament (five-under on the round).

​​Hole 12: Par 3

  • Par - Woods' tee shot soared, landing at the back of the green but still setting up a chance at birdie. The putt rolled to the left of the cup, leaving Woods with a par to remain at 11-under par for the tournament (five-under on the round).

​Hole 13: Par 4

  • Bogey - Woods found the sand off the tee and his approach didn't quite reach the green. A three-putt bogey drops Woods to 10-under par for the tournament (four-under on the round).

Hole 14: Par 4

  • Bogey - His second consecutive shot off the tee lands in the sand off the fairway. Each shot after didn't go as planned, leading to back-to-back bogeys for Woods, falling to nine-under par for the tournament (three-under on the round). 

​Hole 15: Par 5

  • Par - A third errant tee shot ends up in the sand as the wheels appeared to be coming off for Woods. His approach gave him a chance at birdie which just touched the edge of the cup. Woods tapped in for par to remain at nine-under par for the tournament (three-under on the round).

​Hole 16: Par 4

  • Par - Woods remained at nine-under par for the tournament (three-under on the round) by scrambling and getting up-and-down from the bunker.

​Hole 17: Par 3

  • Birdie - Woods' tee shot landed on the green, setting up a long putt for birdie that he drained to get back down to 10-under par for the tournament (four-under on the round).

​Hole 18: Par 4

  • Double-bogey - A shaky tee shot led to a second shot into the water. After taking a drop and chipping onto the green, Woods would two-put for double-bogey, closing out his 18 holes with a two-under 70.