Tiger Woods: Keys to Epic Sunday Performance for 3-Time British Open Champ

Tiger Woods is in a difficult position heading into the last round of the 2012 Open Championship and he will need to play perfect golf the rest of the way.

Woods finished the third round even and his score stayed at six-under par. But Adam Scott continued his spectacular form and set the curve at 11-under. 

This leaves a daunting amount of ground for Woods to make up on Sunday if he is going to win his first Major in over four years.

Here are the three things Tiger must do if he is to have a chance at catching Scott.

Put the Past Away 

Woods certainly has a big, fat annoying monkey on his back right now and there are no shortage of storylines to serve as distractions heading into the final round of golf. 

The scandal involving his marital infidelity continues to lurk in the shadows as long as he fails to win a Major. 

In addition, Woods has to chase Scott and see Steve Williams on the Aussie’s bag. Williams worked for Woods during 13 Major victories and the two had a falling out after Woods' philandering became public.

He must keep these distractions off the course at Royal Lytham and St. Annes in order to catch Scott.

Play Aggressive

Woods is the most talented golfer on the planet, but he has been frustratingly cautious throughout the tournament. 

This has been in direct contrast to Scott, who is the tournament leader in both driving distance (319.8-yard average) and birdies (15). 

Woods, as noted by Jason Sobel of the Golf Channel, has used his driver just four times during the first three days of the competition.

Despite the 205 bunkers at Royal Lytham, Woods needs to be far more aggressive on every shot during Sunday’s run through the course.

Start Fast

Part of Woods’ reformed strategy must include a hot start, as this is something he has failed to do this year.

He has not finished under par during a weekend round at any of the Majors in 2012. Worse still, he has had at least two bogeys on the front nine in each of the five rounds he has played on a Saturday or Sunday at one of golf’s biggest tournaments.

Round 4 of the U.S. Open was an especially disappointing performance as he bogeyed four of the first six holes in addition to one double-bogey.

Woods missed par on two of the first three holes on Saturday, but salvaged the round. He must avoid these mistakes in the first few holes as an early lead may make it impossible to catch Scott.