Tiger Woods Moves Up 2018 Memorial Tournament Saturday Leaderboard with 4 Under

Despite continued putting woes, Tiger Woods moved up the leaderboard in the third round of the 2018 Memorial Tournament on Saturday, shooting a four-under 68 at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.

At the time he entered the clubhouse, Woods found himself in a tie for eighth place at nine under, four strokes behind leader Joaquin Niemann.

The 42-year-old veteran carded one eagle, four birdies and two bogeys due largely to his excellence off the tee and accuracy with his irons on approach shots.

Much like the 67 Tiger shot in the second round, however, his third-round score could have been far better with more putting consistency.

Following some missed opportunities over the first few holes, Woods finally got rolling on the par-five fifth when he reached the green in two and sunk an eagle putt from 13 feet away:

Tiger began to build some momentum from there with a birdie on the par-four sixth to move to three under on the day:

According to ESPN Stats & Info, it had been five years since Woods last went three under over the course of two holes:

The 14-time major champion did himself one better on the next hole with a birdie on the par-five seventh, stretching his streak of birdie or better to three consecutive holes.

That ended with a par on No. 8, but Woods got back on track by birdying the ninth to finish the front nine with an impressive score of 31:

Tiger's putting issues cropped up once again on the back nine and prevented him from improving upon his score until the par-five 15th.

On No. 14, Woods had a fairly short birdie putt to nab a share of the lead, but he missed it badly and was forced to settle for par:

Things initially looked bad for Tiger on No. 15, as his tee shot went way left; however, he was able to thrive in scramble mode and give himself a birdie chance.

Woods took advantage by draining a 14-footer to move into a tie for the lead:

Many of Tiger's putting problems Saturday came from inside 10 feet, and that was the case on the 16th when he missed a par putt to fall back to 10 under in second place.

Woods parred No. 17 before missing another fairly short par putt on the 18th, finishing the back nine at one-over 37, which was somewhat disappointing considering his dominance on the front.

Even so, Tiger is in the mix, and he is a threat to win his first tournament since 2013 if he can turn things around on the green during the fourth round.

If Woods manages to come from behind and pick up the win, he will move even further into elite company as a six-time Memorial winner, per Golf Channel's Justin Ray:

Ray also noted that while Woods is first in the tournament in tee-to-green strokes gained, he is 80th of 81 golfers in putting strokes gained.

That disparity is primarily why Woods is chasing the lead rather than running away from the field.

Tiger will need to put together a far more complete round Sunday to get to the top of the leaderboard, but a third top-five finish on the season is a realistic possibility regardless.