Tiger Woods hoping to find form going into hectic schedule after USPGA challenge fades

Tiger Woods conceded that his challenge for a fifth USPGA crown is all but over after a second successive 72 in the third round and revealed that on Sunday he will simply be trying to find some form to take forward into a packed schedule including two more majors.

In truth, it always was a stretch to envisage Woods contending at the season’s first major. After all, this is just his fourth competitive event of 2020 and as a 44-year-old suffering from a stiff back, Harding Park in the comparatively chilly and windy conditions of North California was a few eye-stretching par fives away from ideal.

Woods made the cut at San Francisco, but only by one, and after his new putter again started misfiring it soon became obvious that he is in also-ran status. Woods skewed several opportunities and found himself four-over for the day through 13 holes. 

He refused to blame his switch from his old faithful Scotty Cameron - with which he has won 14 of his 15 majors - to an updated version and laid the fault squarely at his pace on the putting surfaces. “I've struggled my entire career when the greens look fast and they putt slow,” Woods said.

Still, Woods displayed customary gumption to birdie two of the last three holes - with a 15-footer on the 16th and a brilliant approach from 210 yards to five feet on the 18th - but his resignation was obvious. “I’m happy the way I finished and I made some putts on the last five holes, but that's about it,” Woods said. “It was just a fight all day, and unfortunately just didn't get anything going.

“It’s the last day and we can get ready for the [FedEx Cup] play-offs and we have the US Open after that. Hopefully, tomorrow I can shoot something in the red and get it to under par.”

Justin Thomas, the world No 1, proved what was possible on the drying layout, with the winds getting up - on his first seven holes at least. The 27-year-old ripped through that opening septet in five-under and at four-under par he was right back in it.

Yet then he picked up back to back bogeys and although last week’s World Golf Championship winner birdied the par-five 10th - courtesy of a marvellous chip - the magic had dried up and when he bogeyed the 16th and 18th all he had to show for it was a 68 and a one-under total.

“I'm p----- off, that's really the best way to describe it,” Thomas said. “I let a really good round go, and really had a great opportunity to put myself in a good position going into tomorrow. I just didn't capitalise on the back nine.”

Perspective was applied in abundance by the fact Thomas was playing alongside his best friend Jordan Spieth. As overlooked stories go, Spieth this week trying to become just the sixth player in history to complete the career grand slam barely even sounded a blip on the radar. There is a simple reason for that. Very few believed Spieth could win.

Spieth has not posted a top five since his third in this major 15 months ago and has slipped down to 57th in the world rankings. On reflection, the three-time major champion - Spieth has won since the 2017 Open at Birkdale - did well just to make the cut. But after a 76 he fell to seven-over and into a share of last place with the Korean Sung Kang.

Spieth is a proud individual who is blessed with a commendable character and after birdieing the 18th, turned around to Thomas and apologised. “Jordan didn't give up, he didn't quit at all today,” Thomas said. “And do you know what he said walking off the last? He said to me, ‘I'm sorry, man. I just didn't really give you any momentum.’ That's a good friend trying to take the blame.

“I remember I said that to him walking off the 18th at Augusta in 2018 when he was nine-under coming up the last. I four-putted 16, I bogeyed 17 and I was just really trying to stay out of the way because I wanted him to birdie 18 and have a chance to shoot 10-under. I felt terrible, I kind of scraped it up the hole and he missed an eight-footer and I told him, ‘I'm sorry, man, I kind of screwed that up for you’. But I guess that's just us trying to take the blame off the other one.”

Two players who were able to post notable scores were the world No 10, Patrick Cantlay and England’s Ian Poulter. The pair both shot 66s to move up to three-under. Poulter appeared to be heading nowhere but into weekend irrelevance when bogeying the first two holes, but after almost holing his tee-shot on the par-three third, this other 44-year-old began reeling off the red figures.

Poulter converted 15-footers on the fourth and fifth and then a 10-footer on the seventh. A bogey on the eighth, when bizarrely yanking a tiddler, stalled his run, but he picked up three more birdies on the back nine, with another 15-footer on the 18th. Poulter’s round summed up his entire major so far. He opened the tournament four-over through the 14th, but is now seven-under on his last 40 holes.