OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. — The start of the third round of the BMW Championship was promising for Tiger Woods, but as it’s been the case way too often, he stumbled on the back nine for yet another poor performance.
Woods shot 2-over 72 on Saturday — just the third time in a non-major that he’s opened with three straight rounds over par.
He entered the BMW Championship needing to move up 27 spots in the FedEx points standings to reach the top 30 and qualify for the Tour Championship over Labor Day weekend. That’s an unlikely feat, meaning Sunday’s final round will be his last of the tour season.
Woods’ next event is expected to be the U.S. Open on Sept. 17 at Winged Foot.
The other times that Woods finished over par in the first three rounds of a non-major — it’s also only happened three times in a major — were at the 2007 Players and the 2010 WGC FedEx St. Jude Invitational, where it happened all four rounds.
Woods again did not talk to the media after his round for the second straight day Saturday.
His return to the tour hasn’t been a smooth one since playing the Memorial in June. Out of the 15 rounds he’s played, Woods has only shot under par six times, with his best performance being a 6-under 66 last Sunday at The Northern Trust, where he finished tied for 58th — 24 shots behind winner Dustin Johnson.
Woods looked like he may able gain some momentum at the start of Saturday’s round, holing back-to-back birdie putts from inside 10 feet on Nos. 3 and 4. His 2-under 33 marked the first time that he shot under par during on the front or back nine during the tournament.
But then it came apart for Woods on the back nine, where he’s 7-over par for the tournament.
His tee shot on No. 10 went left into the rough. With a manageable 152 yards outs from the pin, Woods’ approach also found the rough, this time on the right. He finished the hole with his first bogey of the day.
After the bogey, Woods made six consecutive pars until he got to the 17th hole, where his tee shot went wide right in the water en route to a triple-bogey 7.