Crowd support can't sustain Woods

Tiger Woods had an early wake-up call Saturday morning for the third round of the AT&T National.

That wasn't a good sign, because it meant he was far south on the leader board - so far down he'd barely made the cut Friday. It also meant sleeping in on a holiday weekend was out of the question for most of the more than 40,000 who packed the Aronimink Golf Club grandstands and lined the fairways to see Woods up close and personal in his first PGA Tour event in the Philadelphia area.

Judging from the thunderous roar Woods received when he was introduced at the first tee, the gallery was hoping to will him back into contention. He began the day 10 strokes behind the leader, and had indicated Friday he would feel as if he were in the hunt if he went into the final round 6 strokes back.

But it apparently took a while for Woods to rub the sleep from his eyes. He bogeyed the first two holes, including a three-putt on the second, and any chance he'd be a factor in Sunday's final round quickly faded.

"I got off to just an awful start," said Woods, who shot an even-par 70 for the day, leaving his three-round total at 213 - 13 strokes behind Justin Rose, the leader. "It was probably the worst start you could possibly get off to. I kept making mistake after mistake."

Nonetheless, Woods was in a more cheerful mood than he was after the first two rounds. He seemed genuinely buoyed by the crowd.

"The people here are just fantastic," he said. "It was nice to get that kind of support, especially after I got off to such a terrible start. To have the people cheer you on and really want you to play well is really a good feeling."

The only person who seemed annoyed by Woods was one of the men in his security detail, and for good reason. After driving into the rough on the 18th, Woods waded into the gallery without waiting for security. "That's a good way to get himself hurt," the security guard said, shaking his head.

Once he was out of the competition, Woods no doubt went about trying to tighten up his game for the British Open, which he has won three times. He won it at St. Andrews in 2000 and 2005, dominating both times, and the Open will be at St. Andrews next week.

Woods is still on the comeback from his four-month hiatus after revelations of marital infidelity. The AT&T National is his sixth tour event since his return, and he believes he's closer to returning to form even though he's had the most bogeys or worse (12) through 54 holes in a non-major since 2005 and it's the first time since the 2007 Players Championship that he has failed to break par in three consecutive rounds.

"No doubt, the more tournaments I play this year, I'm getting better," he said. "The feel is getting better. I feel more comfortable with what I'm working on, and just going out there and playing in a competitive environment, I feel much more comfortable than I did at the beginning of the year."

Woods started to click on the par-3 eighth, which played at 198 yards with the pin at the front of the fast green. He birdied it with a six-foot putt. He then birdied 11, 13, and 16 - a 558-yard par 5 on which he had a chance for an eagle from 14 feet. "From then on, I hit some really good shots," he said.

The three-putt on No. 2 aside, Woods' putting improved over the first two rounds. "Every putt I hit coming in, I hit on my line with the right pace," he said. "I finally got it to where I could release the blade again."