How to watch Tiger Woods at Hero World Challenge live online on Saturday

This is football season and that sport is supposed to overwhelm everything else in America. There are college football conference title games and a full Sunday slate of NFL games as they hit the final stretch of their season. That should dominate the sports conversation.

But there’s one person who can wedge his way into everything if he keeps it up in what should be a sleepy afterthought of a silly season event. Golf is not supposed to be this way in December, but here’s Tiger Woods after a 466-day layoff reminding us of the glory days with some vintage form. Woods posted his lowest number in three years on Friday, shooting a flawless bogey-free 65 to leap from last place into the middle of the pack at this small 18-man event that he hosts in the Bahamas.

Woods is the biggest draw in the history of the game. A moneymaker and needle-mover like no other and he can make December golf ratings compete with some of the biggest events of the year, including a major. The circumstances of a 15-month layoff only amplified the hype and interest for this week and Friday’s round exceeded all that. There were club twirls, fist pumps, and a cocky strut as he cruised through a 3-hour round playing by himself. The birdies piled up and he became the biggest sports story of Friday afternoon.

The one problem with Tiger’s Friday tee time is that it was so early that we didn’t get to see a large chunk of his opening holes. He was in last place and playing by himself and he was moving so quick before the pregame show and scheduled coverage window. That won’t be a problem on Saturday, as he tees off with Rickie Fowler at 12:26 p.m. ET, well within the Golf Channel window. The round should run about four hours, maybe a little less. There are only 17 players in the field and the stakes are low for everyone else, so things move.

NBC will have the second half of the broadcast with Dan Hicks and David Feherty taking the reins from their Comcast sister network. It’s not often that golf pops up on network TV and with an A-team group of analysts, but that’s what Tiger will do. Now that he’s shown us he can put together a vintage round that reminded us of the glory years, he could own the weekend.

Here are your media options for the third round at Albany:

Noon to 5 p.m. -- Golf Channel/NBC Sports LiveExtra simulcast stream