Tiger Woods Tumbles Down Leaderboard with 3rd-Round 76 at Genesis Open

Tiger Woods' struggles at the 2020 Genesis Invitational continued Saturday with a five-over 76 in the third round at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California.

Woods, who stands in 65th at five over for the tournament, entered the week winless in 12 career starts at Riviera, his most appearances at any course without a victory.

The 15-time major champion came flying out of the gates with an eagle and two birdies over his first eight holes of the event Thursday. It's been all downhill since, though.

Woods couldn't get any facet of his game going Saturday. He found just 50 percent of the fairways and hit only 44.4 percent of the greens in regulation while losing 4.96 strokes with his putter.

He recorded two birdies, five bogeys and a double bogey in Round 3.

The last 45 holes have represented a sudden drop in form for the 44-year-old fan favorite.

Woods tied the all-time PGA Tour record with his 82nd win in October's Zozo Championship in Japan. Since then he's finished fourth in the Hero World Challenge and ninth in the Farmers Insurance Open. He also went 3-0 while serving as a playing captain for the United States at the 2019 Presidents Cup.

Instead of opting for more reps next week in the WGC-Mexico Championship, he allowed the entry deadline to pass Friday without putting his name into the event.

Based on his schedule in past years, that means Woods likely won't return to competitive action until early March with the Arnold Palmer Invitational. That tournament typically begins his build toward the Masters in mid-April.

Other stops will likely include the Players Championship and the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play as part of a busy March, though he's yet to confirm his upcoming schedule.

It's a slate of events that would still leave ample tournament play to prepare for the Masters, where he'll arrive as the defending champion for the first time since 2006.

Woods will need a series of strong bounce-back performances after his lackluster play at Riviera to make himself the favorite at Augusta over the likes of Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm.

He'll go out early Sunday to conclude a disappointing week at the Genesis Invitational.