Projecting Tiger Woods' Day 3 Score at 2013 Masters

Tiger Woods is now five shots behind Jason Day heading into Saturday's action because of his two-shot penalty for an illegal drop, per Bob Harig of ESPN.

He could easily be the leader, but some bad luck on Friday dimmed the last portion of a solid day. Hitting the flagstick and rolling into the water on the 15th hole seem to throw him off his game a bit.

But there is no shame in sitting one under after two rounds.

The third round has traditionally been Tiger Woods' best at Augusta National. I predict that trend will continue for him on Saturday.

He has played at the Masters 18 times. He missed the cut just once back in 1996. Of the 17 times he's played a third round at Augusta, Tiger's average score is 69.94.

That is his lowest average score for any round of play. In 1997, 2002 and 2005, Woods used extraordinary third-round performances to spur him to victory.

I think we're going to see something similar from him this year. Here's how I see Tiger's day going on Saturday.

The Par-Threes—Holes 4, 6, 12 and 16

In Round 1, Tiger birdied the fourth hole, but he settled for pars on the other par-three holes. He broke even on Friday.

On Saturday, Woods won't be spectacular, but steady will work just fine. A repeat of his performance from Thursday will provide him an opportunity to do damage on the longer holes.

I predict he'll be one under on the par-threes.

The Par-Fives—Holes 2, 8, 13 and 15

These holes are the keys to Tiger's success. When he's right, he cleans up on the par-fives, and that's what I predict he will do on Saturday.

In Round 1, he birdied two of the par-fives. By now, you've probably seen his bad luck on the 15th hole from Friday and the subsequent penalty that followed.

On Saturday, Woods will capture an eagle on either the 13th or 15th hole. This will send shock waves through the leaderboard.

I don't see him giving a shot back on the par-fives at all. Instead, I predict an eagle, a birdie and two pars to put him in position for a major move on the leaderboard.

The Par-Fours—Holes 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 14, 17 and 18

The par-fours right in the middle of the round will likely be where Tiger makes this day special. I'm predicting birdies on five, seven and nine.

This is very similar to the run Tiger went on in 2005 when he chased down Chris DiMarco with seven straight birdies en route to a 65.

The masterpiece will be slightly thrown off course with bogeys on 11 and 14. But to finish off the day, Tiger will birdie No. 18 to finish with a seven-under 65. This will put Tiger at 10 under overall.

No matter what the rest of the field does, if Tiger has the kind of day I'm predicting, he could still be in position to win on Sunday.

The drought with a major championship could still be nearing an end..

Follow me for all things sports

Follow @BrianMazique