The best he could do was to squeeze it onto the front of the green.
Advertisement
Merritt, 29, is seeking his first victory in 96 career PGA Tour starts.
Woods was the only player in the field without a birdie until he sank a 12-foot birdie putt at the par-4 15th. He celebrated with a vintage fist pump and smile.
“My short game is starting to come back to where it used to be”, Woods said. “Now I just need to get the ball striking in there a little bit better and consistent”.
Merritt had long since finished and will go into the final round as the leader for the second time this season.
Ko Jin-Young, a four-time victor on the Korean Tour, is playing her first major, had never been to Scotland before and only had one practice round.
Woods is the host of the National, which benefits his foundation. His best finish is a tie for 17th at the Masters. “I started thinking, ‘You know what?”
“People want the immediate fix, the one tip that’s going to work for the rest of their life”, he said. “It doesn’t work that way”. “I couldn’t find it”, Woods said. That’s the sky. That’s the hole.
He hit his first fairway on the par five eighth – and made his first bogey. Yes I did for the first seven holes and I was even par. After taking a drop, Woods two-putted for a double-bogey five. He then hacked it out, off of some hard-packed wood chips, but sent it way over the green to the right with his third before finally getting on with his fourth and two-putting for bogey.
New Zealander Danny Lee continues his good recent from and is in a share of 5th position at 8 under and just three form the lead.
A hooked approach shot into 13 led to another bogey and he didn’t make a birdie until he rolled in an 11-footer on 15.
The former world No1 began his third round just three shots off the pace amid hopes he could make a serious challenge after missing the cut at the Open.
The 39-year-old nearly recorded a hole-in-one on the par-three 16th after seeing his tee shot land inches from the hole, but he admitted it was not his day, telling his press conference: “Basically it was a fight all day”.
Fowler fired a 68, highlighted by a 70-foot birdie putt at the par-3 fourth. “We are only halfway through the tournament”, said Ishikawa.
“Charles played the round I needed to play”, he said.
Noting that he “putted pretty aggressively” during the day, Woods also told the media that he looked forward to the weekend’s game. He hit zero fairways during those four holes.
Bryce Molder (Conway) shot a 2-under 69 to land in a tie for 35th with 16th others at 4 under (138).
Sweden’s Johan Carlsson beat top-seeded James Morrison 2 and 1 at Murcar Links.
Norway’s Suzann Pettersen (72), the second-round leader, was third at 7 under.
Perry had a 14-under 130 total at TPC Twin Cities. She’s two shots clear of a quartet tied for second that included Lydia Ko, who shot a 73 in some of the worst conditions in the afternoon, when the winds swirled and gusted up to 25 miles per hour. Scott Dunlap and Grant Waite shot 67. He last won the tournament in 2012.
Tom Watson opened with a 74.
Advertisement
Ishikawa birdied the last three holes and finished two rounds at 11-under 131.
