Tiger Woods Roars Back into Contention in 3rd Round of 2018 Players Championship

For at least one day, Tiger Woods played like the golfer who used to dominate tournaments.

The 14-time major champion fired a seven-under 65 in Saturday's third round of the 2018 Players Championship to skyrocket up the leaderboard in the PGA Tour's so-called "fifth major." He finished the day with eight birdies and one bogey.

Woods walked off the course in a tie for eighth place at eight under. The leaders, paced by Webb Simpson at 15 under, are yet to tee off on moving day.

The 42-year-old fan favorite's latest comeback from lingering back problems has yielded plenty of positive signs, but he struggled to get all facets of his game clicking at the same time.

That changed Saturday.

Woods hit 78.6 percent of the fairways and 83.3 percent of greens to give his putter a chance to make things happen, and he took advantage of most of his birdie looks until late in the round.

He posted score of 30 on the front nine thanks to six birdies. Golf Channel's Tiger Tracker provided the stat line that suddenly brought him back into contention:

Woods almost missed his opportunity to make a charge. He sat on the cut line throughout Friday after finishing at one under, and the magic number reached two under a couple times late in the round before dropping back to one, allowing him to play the weekend.

He added back-to-back birdies on Nos. 12 and 13 before his first bogey of the day on the 14th.

Woods missed makeable birdie putts on 16 and 18—he would have tied the course record if he made them both—but still matched Jordan Spieth for the best round of the day from the early wave of players.

Here's a look at some of his highlights from Saturday, via the PGA Tour:

Whether Woods has a realistic chance to push for his first victory since the 2013 Bridgestone Invitational won't be known until round's end. A lot depends on whether Simpson continues to build his five-stroke lead or stays within striking distance of the field.

Regardless, Woods' terrific showing in the third round proved he still possesses some of his old magic.