Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy set for Sunday showdown at Tour Championship

Tiger Woods tees off with Rory McIlroy in the final pairing on Sunday at the Tour Championship holding a three-shot lead and chasing his first PGA Tour win in five years.

In just more than two months time, Tiger Woods will play a made-for-TV, one-on-one match with longtime rival Phil Mickelson. It turns out the real showdown will come much earlier than that.

Woods will play in the final pairing of the Tour Championship on Sunday with Rory McIlroy. It’s a matchup long anticipated since McIlroy burst onto the PGA Tour, but one that has seldom materialized. The advantage lies with Woods, who goes into the final round with a three-shot lead over the Northern Irishman.

Woods began the third round tied with Justin Rose for the lead at seven-under. It didn’t take long for him to electrify the Atlanta crowd. He birdied five straight holes from the third to the seventh, stretching his lead to as much as five. Two bogeys coming in, however, including a great save on the 16th when his first chip shot rolled back down a hill guarding the green, cut into the lead.

History is on his side as he looks for his first win since 2013: Woods has never lost a 54-hole lead as big as three shots in his PGA Tour career.

Woods admitted after his round on Saturday that he’s come a long way since mounting a comeback onto the tour this year. In March he finished runner-up at the Valspar Championship, showing glimpses of his old self that had been lost in the past few years as he dealt with back injuries. He says, however, that he’s a completely different player now than he was even in March.

“In March I didn’t really have a golf swing yet. I was still trying to figure out how to play,” he said. “My body is so different now than it was then. I’ve gone through a lot this year to get myself to this point.”

McIlroy, meanwhile, shot a four-under 66 on Saturday that could have been even better. He missed several good birdie opportunities as poor putting continues to plague him. He ranks just 23rd this week in strokes gained: putting, but says he likes the way he’s playing and just has to keep putting himself in good spots.

“I gave myself plenty of chances,” he said. “Five birdies out there, one bogey, it’s playing tough. Got to put your ball in the fairway, put yourself in position, and for the most part, I did that today.”

While McIlroy couldn’t make a putt, Woods was making everything. On the first seven holes alone he holed 70 feet worth of putts. Woods leads the field this week in putting, going back to the Scotty Cameron model he used to win 13 of his 14 majors after experimenting with a mallet putter earlier this summer. He says while he’s had good moments with the putter this year, it’s finally coming together at East Lake.

“I’ve been streaky with my putter,” he said. “I’ve had hot days, I’ve had hot stretches, but I haven’t been consistent day in, day out. And this week I have been consistent. My speed has been good. I’m seeing the arc of the putts. The best part is I’m releasing that toe, and that toe feels like it’s hooking every time. It’s a great feeling.”

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The pairing of Woods and McIlroy is one that’s tantialized golf fans ever since McIlroy won the U.S. Open by eight shots in 2011. He even replaced Woods as the face of the EA Sports golf franchise that year. They’ve had some duels in the past, most notably at the Honda Classic in 2012 when McIlroy held off a 62 by Woods in the final round. But they’ve never competed with the stakes as high as they are this week.

Woods says he’s looking forward to playing with McIlroy, particularly because it’s been so long since they’ve done it while Woods was out.

“It’s gonna be fun,” he said. “We haven’t done that that much of late because I’ve not been there. He has been there. He’s won a bunch of tournaments. So it’s nice for us to go back out and play against one another, to be in the mix.”

McIlroy, for his part, says Woods is going to be tough to catch with such a big lead, but he just has to go out and play like he did today.

“Look, he’s a notoriously great front-runner. But if I go out and I play similar tomorrow like I did today, I’ll have no complaints,” he said.

Rose, in his first tournament as World No. 1, is tied with McIlroy for second at nine-under after shooting 68 on Saturday. Barring a collapse, Rose seems certain to win the FedEx Cup even if he doesn’t catch up to Woods (Woods needs Rose to finish tied for fifth or worse to win the cup). No other player is closer than six shots.

Woods says he’s looking forward to the challenge of holding off McIlroy and Rose. After all, a year ago it seemed like this opportunity would never come again. Now that his first win in five years is within reach, Woods recognizes his work isn’t done just yet.

“It feels great to have worked my way into this spot,” he said. “I’ve got a three shot lead. I’ve got a bunch of guys behind me that have been playing well and are playing well.”

“We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”