In 1986, the Golden Bear came out of hibernation. Thirty-three years later, the Tiger has come out of his cage.
Tiger Woods shot a 5-under-par 67 on Saturday at the Masters to move to 11-under, just two shots back of the lead held by Francesco Molinari. For a brief moment, Woods was tied for the lead after walking in a birdie putt on 16.
The 67 was Woods’ lowest round at the Masters since 2011. He tied his low three-round Masters total of 205, the same 54-hole total he shot in both 2002 and 2005, when he won.
Now he’ll be in the final group Sunday, for the first time at the Masters since 2007.
It’s going to be a different kind of final round at Augusta National, with the tee times moved up to the morning to try to beat some severe weather expected in the afternoon.
But something that’s the same – or at least the same as it once was – is that Tiger Woods has a very real chance to win.
When he’s been 11-under or better through three rounds at the Masters, he’s won every time.
Woods, who 22 years ago Saturday won his first green jacket, made every putt inside 10 feet in the third round. He had had a pedestrian run on the greens through rounds one and two, but said if he got the speed down, they’d go in.
"And they did," he said. "I just did everything [well]. I drove it well, hit my irons well and I made some putts."
Woods will wake up around 4 a.m. on Sunday to get ready for the final round ("Usually, we get a sleep in Sunday if we play well," he said) and he’ll be grouped with Tony Finau, who shot an 8-under-par 64 on Saturday, and the 2018 Open Champion Molinari – who was last in the same group with Woods at the Masters in 2006, when he was the caddie for his brother.
Like ’86, this Masters leaderboard will age well over the next two decades or so. Back then, when Jack Nicklaus came from four shots back after 54-holes with a back-nine charge to win his sixth green jacket at age 46, he zipped past the best in the world.
Tom Kite and Greg Norman tied for second. Seve Ballesteros was just a shot further back, followed by Nick Price. Tom Watson tied for sixth, while Payne Stewart and Bob Tway tied for eighth.
Major champions, all.
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In 2019, Woods will be chasing a major winner in Molinari, while other major champions Brooks Koepka, Webb Simpson, Louis Oosthuizen and Dustin Johnson are within five shots. Major-less, but major players Tony Finau, Ian Poulter, Matt Kuchar and Xander Schauffele are all within five shots, too.
Whoever emerges from the pack Sunday and slips on the green jacket will have topped the strongest leaderboard in golf so far this year.
And "not since world war two," as tweeted by GolfWeek columnist Eamon Lynch, "have so many Americans been rooting against an Italian leader."
When Molinari won the 2018 Open Championship, his first major, he was paired with Woods on Sunday at Carnoustie. He’ll be grouped again with Woods on Sunday and said in a post-round interview that "obviously [Woods] is playing great."
Twenty-three of the last 30 Masters champions have come from the final group Sunday, so Woods has that on his side. He has experience, too. He’s figured out the speed of the greens. His iron play has been world-class all year and it’s remained as such this week. For as good as Molinari has hit it this week, Woods has hit four more greens in regulation.
Augusta National is a puzzle, and Woods has all the pieces in front of him. They’re fitting well, but he’s not done the challenge yet.
Patrons on site at Augusta National sound like they are willing Woods to win. The golfing public at large, ditto. It’s hard not to feel a tinge of excitable, child-like emotion when Woods is close to the lead these days. A generation of golfers on the PGA Tour and golf fans, too, were raised on Woods’ dominance.
Woods hasn’t won a major in 11 years – Nicklaus in ’86 was six years removed from his last major triumph – but he did capture the Tour Championship late last year after contending in the final two majors of 2018.
"It’s been a while since I’ve been in contention here," he said in a post-round interview, "But then again, the last two majors count for something."
He’s never come-from-behind to win a major, a rare thing missing on the resume of the all-time great, but this is a new Woods. Why not?
He couldn’t help but let out a small smile after his round Saturday. He fist-bumped a few patrons as he walked to scoring. He knew he had given himself a chance, and sometimes – especially at Augusta National – all you need is a chance.
Just ask Nicklaus.
