Tiger Woods Climbs Leaderboard with 3rd-Round 69 at 2020 Farmers Insurance Open

Tiger Woods made a move up the leaderboard Saturday with a three-under 69 in the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, California.

Woods entered the day tied for 17th after a somewhat disappointing one-under 71 in the second round, but he was able to rebound and entered the clubhouse Saturday in a tie for seventh place at seven under for the tournament, putting him four strokes behind leader Jon Rahm.

Tiger struggled through an up-and-down second round that saw him post two bogeys and a double bogey, but he was more consistent Saturday, carding four birdies and one bogey. An iffy back nine prevented a solid day from being a great day, however.

The 44-year-old veteran came out of the gates remarkably strong Saturday on the South Course and wasted little time in positioning himself for a run.

That included a birdie on the par-four first to get things started:

Woods followed that up with another birdie on the par-three third before saving par with a perfect chip on No. 4:

Tiger also managed to take advantage of the two par-five holes on the front nine, as he birdied both No. 6 and No. 9 to make the turn at four under for the day and eight under for the tournament:

According to Justin Ray of 15th Club, Woods has made a habit of hot starts on the Torrey Pines South Course over the years:

While Tiger had a ton of momentum on his side when he made the turn, it was clear that the back nine was going to play much tougher than the front.

That became apparent quickly when Tiger bogeyed the par-three 11th to fall back to three under for the day and three shots off the lead.

Tiger parred the next six holes, and he needed something positive on the par-five 18th to enter Sunday's final round on a high note. Instead, he narrowly averted disaster by making a 20-foot putt for par after finding the bunker twice.

Woods has his work cut out for him if he is going to win the Farmers Insurance Open for the eighth time in his career, but by matching his best round of the tournament thus far, he is at least in the mix.

Tiger finished first and fourth in his previous two tournaments entering the Farmers Insurance Open, and if he can at least come through with another top-five finish, it will help him continue to build momentum for the Masters.