PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Tiger Woods was in a cheerful mood by the end of his topsy-turvy third-round 72 (3-under total) at THE PLAYERS Championship at a cool, blustery TPC Sawgrass on Saturday. He had reversed his front-nine slide with birdies at 12, 16 and 17, avoided falling victim to the 54-hole cut, and even enjoyed a belly laugh with his playing partner, Kevin Na, after both of them birdied the penultimate hole with short putts. “Kevin, he almost picked the ball out of the hole before it even got there,â€� Woods said with a smile. “And I had pretty much a kick-in, so I tried to emulate him as best I possibly could, meanwhile still trying to make the putt–I got to make the putt first, so I thought we had a good laugh about it.â€� Woods almost even managed to forget about his quadruple-bogey 7 at the island 17th hole the day before. Almost. The only player to win this tournament in May and March, Woods came here in search of his 81st PGA TOUR title. But he essentially took himself out of the tournament with Friday’s two water-balls on 17. He only found out later that after the first one he could have dropped on the path to the green. “Yeah, I talked to (Golf Channel analyst David Duval) about it last night,â€� Woods said Saturday after he salvaged a 72 despite hitting just 8/14 fairways and ranking deep in negative numbers in Strokes Gained: Putting, his worst stats of the week. “I didn’t realize that, where my ball had crossed, where my ball — I thought it had crossed on the green and just hopped over the back and that was it. Go right to the drop area.â€� According to the new Rules of Golf, though, he could have dropped a club-length from where he entered the hazard, as long as he kept the entry point between himself and the hole. That would have allowed him to putt or chip his ball up the path and potentially save bogey. MUST READS: Tiger Woods “At the very least, he cost himself three shots,â€� Brandel Chamblee said in a nighttime Golf Channel segment in which he, Duval and Frank Nobillo recreated the scene. “Unfortunately, I just didn’t know that’s where the ball had crossed,â€� Woods said Saturday, adding that he would have known he was entitled to drop on the path. “There’s no marshals up there and so it is what it is.â€� At least he got revenge with a tap-in birdie on 17, a five-stroke improvement over the day before, even if it will be remembered more for the comic moment he shared with his playing partner. Na is known for the quick pick-up, but he and Woods had never played together in a tournament over the last 16 years Na has been on TOUR. Na putted first, from 4 feet, 5 inches, and chased his ball into the hole, nearly scooping it up before it rattled around in the white plastic insert. “I do that all the time,â€� said Na, who shot 78 (3-over), and will miss the 54-hole cut. “He’s seen it. I asked him, ‘You’ve seen it?’ He said, ‘Yeah, I’ve seen it but I’ve never seen it in person.’ And then he had a little one, kinda mimicking me. He didn’t get there fast enough. And you gotta use the left hand. He used the other hand. I’ll give him a lesson later.â€� In other Woods news, he said he will play in the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, March 27-31. “Well, I’m guaranteed to play three rounds in a couple weeks,â€� he said, “and so that’s basically like a tournament, and we’ll see from there.â€�
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