Tiger Woods is in the lead heading into the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which will finish on Monday after a rough rain storm forced the PGA Tour to suspend play.
Woods was able to play two holes and hit one birdie to put his lead at three strokes over Rickie Fowler, Keegan Bradley, John Huh and Ken Duke, while play will resume at 10 am on Monday. Woods is in prime position to win the tournament, as he is 51 of 55 when tied for the lead or having the outright lead heading into the final round.
Sergio Garcia had a strange day after hitting a shot into a tree and then climbing that tree to hit the shot. He decided to withdraw after play was suspended, as he said he injured his shoulder when climbing up and then jumping down from the tree. The PGA Tour is dealing with a weather delay for the third time. Woods has won twice this year, one of which was on a Monday due to fog at Torrey Pines in San Diego.
Woods has been dominant for some stretches this season and he is poised to reclaim the number one world ranking for the first time since 2010, as a victory would put him past Rory McIlroy in the standings. Woods has already won twice this season and is the defending champion at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Woods is off to a great start after going through two holes and snagging one birdie and is now three shots up on the final day. The round will be a challenge after the harsh weather, with rain filling up the fairways, but Woods is still in excellent position to win. At 11-under-205 Woods has a comfortable cushion and in his career he has converted nearly all of his opportunities when taking the outright lead into the final round.
The win would be his third of the season, which is the most prior to the Masters since 2008. He would be the favorite heading into the major and he could take home his first championship since 2008, when he won the US Open in a playoff. Rose had a chance to take a commanding lead after going up six strokes at one point, but he fell apart at the end and Woods took his chance.
On Saturday Woods had a much better finish than Friday, when he bogeyed the final three holes to fall four strokes back. He was fine on the back end after the rough go the previous day and he saved par a number of times and also made birdies in four of the first 10 holes.
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano is behind the main part of the leaderboard after shooting a 68 in fifth place and Woods has experience playing with him, as he defeated the Spaniard last year in match play. Woods has a chance to be number one again for the first time in over two years since he fell from grace from his sex scandal.
