Tiger Woods shoots third round 67 to get in final group at Masters

Tiger Woods won’t be able to sleep late Sunday but will have his best chance to win the Masters Tournament in six years.

The four-time Masters champion enters this year's final round firmly in the hunt after a brilliant 67 in the third round at Augusta National, propelled by impressive ball-striking, solid putting and two gifts from the golf gods in Amen Corner.

“It was a blast,” Woods said. “I was able to let the round build and methodically make it around this golf course to put myself in a good spot.”

Woods dropped a 7-foot putt on 16 for his third birdie in four holes to briefly snag a share of the lead with Tony Finau and Francesco Molinari. He narrowly missed a 35-foot attempt on 18 in front of patrons gathered 15 rows deep around the green, sending him to the scorer’s building with a rousing ovation and a two-shot deficit to erase Sunday. 

PHOTOS: Tiger's Saturday at the Masters

“I was very patient, plodded my way around and gave myself a chance going into tomorrow,” he said. 

Woods has been sharp tee-to-green all week and is tied for second in greens in regulation (79.6 percent). He hit 16 in the third round, shaking off a sluggish start to join the third-round birdie bonanza.

After a poor tee shot left led to a bogey at No. 5 for the third consecutive day, Woods strung together three birdies. He curled in a downhill 18-footer on No. 6, knocked a 147-yard approach stiff at 7 and crushed a 3-wood from 266 yards out on 8, narrowly missing an 11-foot eagle attempt.

“I just did everything,” Woods said. “I drove it well and hit my irons well. And I don't need to go after every single flag. Just put the ball in the correct spots so I can have gettable looks and gettable putts. And I was able to do that and I tried to keep the ball below the hole as best as I possibly could. And I made sure that I had those type of looks, and if I gave myself those looks the way that I'm hitting my lines I'm going to be alright.”

PHOTOS: Round 3 at The Masters

Woods scrambled to save par from the right trees at 9 and maintained momentum in the course’s pivotal stretch thanks to a pair of breaks after wayward drives that allowed him to avoid dropping a shot.

His tee shot at 11 sailed right into the trees, but Woods enjoyed a clear 155-yard approach to the green on the 505-yard par-4, which is the second most-difficult hole at Augusta National this week. On 13, he hooked his drive into the bushes left of Rae’s Creek but the ball ricocheted into the grass on the proper side of the hazard. Again, he capitalized, spinning a low wedge shot within six feet and draining the birdie putt.

If the forecast holds and the wind blows 15-20 miles per hour Sunday, then remaining committed to each decision, hitting the proper shot and accurately timing the gusts will be critical, Woods said. The schedule change means he’ll tee off about five hours earlier than normal in the final round. The 43-year-old 14-time major champion said he couldn’t recall playing threesomes in the final round of a major.

Woods told CBS Sports he’d likely wake up at 3:45 or 4 a.m. to start preparing for his 9:20 tee time.

“We usually - the reward is for playing hard and doing all the things correctly you get a nice little sleep-in come Sunday, but that's not going to be the case,” said Woods, seeking his 15th major but first since 2008. “We’ve got to get up early and get after it.”

Trading sleep for a shot at history is one he’ll gladly make.