Tiger Woods in Contention at PGA Championship 2018 After Strong Round 3

Tiger Woods' 15th major championship is within reach entering the final round of the PGA Championship.  

Shortly after he put a bow on a four-under-par second round that was completed Saturday morning because of rain, Woods returned to the course at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis in the afternoon and continued his charge up the leaderboard with another 66.  

Woods, whose last major win came at the 2008 U.S. Open, entered the clubhouse firmly in contention at eight under overall. 

After racking up six birdies in Round 2, Woods picked up where he left off and rolled in five across his first nine holes on moving day.

That figure included back-to-back birdies at No. 1 and No. 2—conversions that set the tone for a round filled with vintage moments as Woods left his mark on scorable, water-logged grounds in St. Louis. 

Tiger also drained a seven-foot birdie putt at No. 8 that boosted him into a tie for third place as he prepared to make the turn: 

However, the ascent didn't last forever. 

Woods plateaued with 10 straight pars to close his round, and he missed a handful of makable putts inside of 20 feet—including eagle and birdie attempts at the par-five 17th—that could have sent him soaring even higher. 

Still, there were a few positives to glean from that stretch even if it wasn't littered with circles on the scorecard. 

Not only did Woods strike the ball accurately off the tee and flash strong distance control with a flurry of pin-high approach shots, but he also displayed stellar scrambling ability with a clutch par save at No. 10 that was punctuated by a signature fist pump: 

Tiger's club twirls were also in full effect, which suggested he was oozing confidence: 

And yet, the putts simply didn't fall late. 

As a result, Woods will have quite a bit of ground to make up if he wants to catch two-time U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka atop the leaderboard Sunday afternoon.