Tiger Woods is within striking distance of the number one world ranking on Sunday as the final round is underway at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club in Florida after a fantastic round on Saturday that saw him surge ahead to take the lead.
Woods started the day four strokes behind Justin Rose, who was able to build a six stroke lead at one point, but the leader could not hang on after shooting a few bogeys late and Woods used his third eagle of the event to surge ahead. Woods is now in an excellent position to win the tournament for the second year in a row and a victory would put him back on the top of the golf world once again, as he could become the world's number one ranked golfer over Rory McIlroy, a place he has not been since 2010.
Woods is 11-under-205 on the event and is two strokes ahead heading into the fnal round on Sunday, where he is 51 of 55 in those situations in his career. Woods was in that same spot two weeks ago at Doral and he came home with the WGC-Cadillac Championship. The win would give him the number one rank and put him in position to be the absolute favorite for the Masters.
Woods is ahead of Rickie Fowler, John Huh and Rose heading into the final day and has 40 wins in 42 tournaments with the outright lead in those situations. It would be the first time in nearly two and a half years that Woods has the number one ranking and one possible reason for his success this year is his relationship with Olympian Lindsey Vonn, which he made public on Facebook last week.
The wind is supposed to be high on Sunday, but Woods is experienced at the course and could take his eighth career title at the event. Woods will want to improve his fairway percentage from Saturday, as he hit just half, but he still is in excellent position to take his 77th win on the PGA Tour. He also could get some much-needed momentum heading into the Masters, as his third victory would give him his most wins prior to the event since 2008.
The win would bring Woods back to his pinnacle after falling as low as 58th at one point during his two and a half years out of the number one ranking. Woods improved on his Friday round when he made pars on the 16th and 17th holes, which he bogeyed the day before. Rose blew up over the final stretch after building a six stroke lead over Woods, who was able to surge ahead to sit on top of the PGA Leaderboard.
The 37-year-old has been nearly unbeatable when taking the lead into the final round, winning 51 of 55 times when tied or with the outright lead. Woods has been hot this season and has won five tournaments over the past year. He won the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines before prevailing at the WGC two weeks ago. Another win would give him the prime position heading into the Masters on the PGA Tour.
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