It appears that Tiger Woods, the best closer in the history of the sport, is on his way to his fourth win of the season and win No. 78 for his career at The Players Championship on Sunday.
Tiger Woods takes 2-shot lead at 2013 Players Championship
As he makes the turn, it’s Tiger’s tournament to lose at TPC Sawgrass.
Midway through his final round, Woods is currently 13-under for the tournament, two shots ahead of the field.
In his prolific career, Woods has held a share of the 54-hole lead a total of 56 times in his career -- he’s failed to win in that scenario only four times. Trying to compete with that absurd history Sunday afternoon are players such as Jeff Maggert, Sergio Garcia and David Lingmerth, a rookie making his debut at the event.
Historically, the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course has not been a favorite annual stop of Tiger’s, and he’s often cited the “tricky” sight lines of the Pete Dye original. But, sticking true to his 2013 form, he had no trouble with the course through the first two days.
Saturday was a bit tougher for Woods, as he occasionally went wayward off the tee while hitting some mediocre approach and chip shots. He was back in the form Sunday morning, however, and played a clean final four holes to finish up in a tie for the lead.
That form has continued on Sunday afternoon, with the front nine being perhaps his best stretch of the week. Tiger went out in 34, but it could have been lower as he had a good birdie look on almost every single hole.
He did card one bogey at No. 6, but promptly responded with a huge birdie putt from just off the green at No. 7. Tiger’s putts have been around the hole all day, and he was three burned edges away from opening with five straight birdies.
Tiger did finish with a relatively disappointing par on the par-5 ninth hole, but he makes the turn with a 2-shot lead. The back side is a nine-hole stretch that Tiger has historically played well, save for repeated trouble at No. 14.
With two more par-5s in front of him, that 13-under number is likely to go higher. Unless there’s some uncharacteristic blow-up, it should be another inward march to victory for Woods.
Here’s a snapshot of the leaderboard chasing Tiger with nine holes to play:
| Score | Player | Thru |
| -13 | Tiger Woods | 9 |
| -11 | David Lingmerth | 8 |
| -11 | Sergio Garcia | 8 |
| -11 | Jeff Maggert | 10 |
| -11 | Martin Laird | 16 |
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