It didn’t take long for Tiger Woods to move into a tie for first place at the Memorial on Saturday. Woods bolted off the driving range with a confident stride and promptly opened his third round with a birdie to put mid-point leader Rory Sabbatini on notice. Woods striped it down the middle and then converted the simple birdie to move to 6-under. He has a history of lighting it up on moving day at Muirfield Village, playing the course 15-under during his last five Saturday rounds here. Woods nearly drained another long birdie putt on No. 4 to move to 7-under, but it lagged just short. He’s playing his best since the win at Bay Hill and his start on Saturday, particularly on the greens, could be a harbinger of another successful weekend.
Memorial Tournament 2012: Tiger Woods Tied For Lead After Opening 3rd Round With Birdie
Sabbatini, on the other hand, has been all over the yard -- starting bogey-birdie-bogey in Columbus. Sabbatini hit what he thought was a good approach shot on No. 1, but the ball went into the bunker. He could not make the sand save, handing sole possession of the lead to Woods for the moment. But Sabbatini rebounded with a birdie on the second to move back into a tie for first. His playing partner, Spencer Levin, also birdied the hole to make it a three-way tie atop the leaderboard.
Sabbatini gave it right back on No. 3, with a three-jack that dropped him to 5-under. He could not get comfortable standing over his second putt, pulling away multiple times and re-marking before blasting it past the cup on the high side. Levin made par to stay tied with Woods.
You can view the full Memorial leaderboard at Golf.com.
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