Tiger Woods saw his bid for a first PGA Tour title in two years fade away on the third day of the Quicken Loans National as Troy Merritt helped set the pace after carding a tournament-record 61 i n Gainesville, Virginia.
Woods started the morning in a nine-way tie for fifth place on eight under but the former world number one could only card a 74 to drop back to five under, leaving him nine shots adrift of joint leaders Merritt and Kevin Chappell.
Woods, who began the week with rounds of 68 and 66, was wayward off the tee for much of the front nine on Saturday and bogeyed the par-five eighth before recording a double-bogey five on the 11th and then dropping another shot in the 13th.
That saw him slip back to four under overall and, although he staged a mini recovery with birdies on 15 and 16, he carded another bogey on the last to slip further out of contention at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.
The 39-year-old almost recorded a hole-in-one on the par-three 16th after seeing his tee shot land inches from the hole, but he admitted it was not his day, telling his press conference: "Basically it was a fight all day. It felt like that hook was coming in and fought through it the best I could.
"I was waiting for the one moment, the one shot. I couldn't find it."
The 14-time major winner's troubles were in stark contrast to that of his fellow American Merritt, who produced a stunning 10-under-par round of 61 to both secure his place in the tournament's record books and help him to the top of the leaderboard.
The 29-year-old, who also made a 61 in the second round of the RBC Heritage in April, recorded 11 birdies - six on which came on the opening seven holes - and just the one bogey as he stormed up the standings.
Merritt said on Sky Sports: "I finally made putts today. It was a frustrating first few days hitting the ball really really well and having really good proximity to the hole and not getting anything out of it. Today, I hit the ball really well, got a lot out of it, obviously with the 61, and just (need to) keep building off that.
"If the swing's there, the putter feels like it's there now, and I think we'll have a decent chance tomorrow."
Joining him on 14 under was Chappell after he signed for a 67, and they will go into the final day with a one-shot lead over Rickie Fowler (68), and a two-shot advantage over Jason Bohn (67), Whee Kim (67), Charles Howell (67) and David Lingmerth (68).
Overnight leader Ryo Ishikawa of Japan, who was one shot clear of Fowler and Chappell at the midway point of the tournament, was only able to record a level-par 71 on Saturday and he is one of four players on 11 under, along with two-time major winner Justin Rose (65), Carl Pettersson (64) and Bill Haas (64).
Source: PA
