Zozo Championship R3/4 (Pt1)

October 24-27
Accordia Golf Narashino CC, Chiba, Japan
$9,750,000
Round 1, Round 2 (Pt1), Round 2 (Pt2), Round 4 (Pt2)

---

Tiger Woods is on the verge of winning a record-equalling 82nd PGA Tour title in the weather-effected Zozo Championship in Japan.

Woods holds a three-shot lead over local favourite Hideki Matsuyama with seven holes of his final round to be completed on Monday at Narashino Country Club.

The 15-time major winner had earlier compiled a third round of 66 with six birdies and two bogeys and, after a break of 48 minutes, made the ideal start to round four with a birdie on the first.

Woods dropped a shot on the fourth but the 43-year-old bounced back to birdie the next two holes and extend his lead to five shots, only for Matsuyama to birdie the 11th and 12th to close the gap before play was suspended due to darkness.

“It was a long day in the saddle,” Woods, who is playing his first tournament of the season following a nine-week lay-off for knee surgery and was three over par after three holes on Thursday, told Golf Channel.

“I felt like I played all right, I made a few mistakes here and there but I kept it pretty clean for most of the day and took my birdies when I had opportunities. The greens are soft so we can fire at just about every flag.”

Woods, who will equal Sam Snead’s record if he can complete victory on Monday, added: “I’m going to try and win, there’s no doubt about that.

---

“I’ve got a job to do tomorrow and start off on the 12th hole. It’s not exactly the easiest of holes, so right out of the gate I’ve got one of the hardest par fours on the golf course. It certainly will have my attention.

“As the holes have gone by I’ve gotten a little bit more comfortable. I didn’t start off very good this week, bogeyed my first three holes, but after that it’s been pretty good.”

---

South Korea’s Sungjae Im and US Open champion Gary Woodland are six shots off the pace with four and eight holes to play respectively, with Rory McIlroy a stroke further back.

McIlroy, who fired an eagle and six birdies in a third round of 63, has just two holes of his final round to play.

---

Pos.	Player	Nat	To Par	Hole	Today	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1	Tiger Woods	USA	-18	11	-2	64	64	66	–	194
2	Hideki Matsuyama	JPN	-15	12	-2	65	67	65	–	197
T3	Sung-Jae Im	KOR	-12	14	-4	71	64	67	–	202
T3	Gary Woodland	USA	-12	10	Par	64	66	68	–	198
5	Rory McIlroy	NIR	-11	16	-1	72	65	63	–	200
T6	Charles Howell III	USA	-10	14	-1	70	65	66	–	201
T6	Billy Horschel	USA	-10	12	1	68	67	64	–	199
T6	Matthew Wolff	USA	-10	12	-1	69	65	67	–	201
T6	Xander Schauffele	USA	-10	12	1	68	66	65	–	199
T10	Danny Lee	NZL	-9	14	-2	70	65	68	–	203
T10	Corey Conners	CAN	-9	12	2	69	64	66	–	199
T12	Shane Lowry	IRL	-8	18	-5	71	69	67	65	272
T12	Byeong-Hun An	KOR	-8	16	-2	70	68	66	–	204
T12	Keegan Bradley	USA	-8	11	-1	69	63	71	–	203
T15	Justin Thomas	USA	-7	18	-5	70	69	69	65	273
T15	Patrick Reed	USA	-7	18	-2	72	68	65	68	273
T15	Paul Casey	ENG	-7	18	-3	69	69	68	67	273
T15	Ian Poulter	ENG	-7	15	-3	71	71	64	–	206
T15	Ryan Palmer	USA	-7	13	-1	67	68	69	–	204
T15	Daniel Berger	USA	-7	12	Par	67	66	70	–	203
T21	Dylan Frittelli	RSA	-6	18	-3	71	69	67	67	274
T21	Jason Day	AUS	-6	18	-2	73	66	67	68	274
T21	Tommy Fleetwood	ENG	-6	18	-3	71	69	67	67	274
T24	Harold Varner III	USA	-5	15	-6	72	70	69	–	211
T24	Adam Schenk	USA	-5	14	1	69	67	68	–	204
T24	Keith Mitchell	USA	-5	14	-3	69	68	71	–	208
T24	Sung-Hoon Kang	KOR	-5	14	-1	67	69	70	–	206
T24	Collin Morikawa	USA	-5	13	1	71	64	69	–	204
T29	Emiliano Grillo	ARG	-4	18	Par	69	69	68	70	276
T29	Rafael Cabrera Bello	ESP	-4	18	-3	73	66	70	67	276
T29	Troy Merritt	USA	-4	18	-3	71	68	70	67	276
T29	Satoshi Kodaira	JPN	-4	14	2	69	66	69	–	204
T33	Adam Scott	AUS	-3	18	1	73	67	66	71	277
T33	Rory Sabbatini	SVK	-3	18	Par	71	68	68	70	277
T33	Sergio Garcia	ESP	-3	18	-1	70	71	67	69	277
T33	Joaquin Niemann	CHI	-3	14	4	68	68	67	–	203
T33	J. T. Poston	USA	-3	13	Par	70	65	72	–	207
T38	Kevin Tway	USA	-2	18	-4	69	72	71	66	278
T38	Lucas Glover	USA	-2	18	-1	72	69	68	69	278
T38	Ryo Ishikawa	JPN	-2	14	2	68	68	70	–	206
T38	Si-Woo Kim	KOR	-2	14	-1	76	67	66	–	209
T42	Adam Hadwin	CAN	-1	18	-2	71	69	71	68	279
T42	Chan Kim	USA	-1	18	-3	71	69	72	67	279
T42	Viktor Hovland	NOR	-1	18	2	75	65	67	72	279
T42	Abraham Ancer	USA	-1	15	-1	74	68	68	–	210
T42	Vaughn Taylor	USA	-1	14	-5	70	73	71	–	214
T47	Kevin Na	USA	Par	18	1	71	70	68	71	280
T47	Max Homa	USA	Par	18	5	71	68	66	75	280
T47	Tomoharu Otsuki	JPN	Par	18	5	70	68	67	75	280
T47	Jazz Janewattananond	THA	Par	16	-2	74	67	71	–	212
T47	Louis Oosthuizen	RSA	Par	16	1	69	69	71	–	209
T47	Wyndham Clark	USA	Par	14	-2	74	68	70	–	212
T53	Adam Long	USA	1	18	-4	71	70	74	66	281
T53	Bubba Watson	USA	1	18	5	69	69	68	75	281
T53	Rikuya Hoshino	JPN	1	18	Par	68	71	72	70	281
T53	Shaun Norris	RSA	1	18	-1	73	67	72	69	281
57	Pat Perez	USA	2	16	1	72	70	69	–	211
T58	Andrew Putnam	USA	3	18	Par	68	72	73	70	283
T58	Tony Finau	USA	3	18	3	72	69	69	73	283
T58	Cheng Tsung Pan	TPE	3	14	-1	68	75	71	–	214
T61	Sang-Hyun Park	KOR	4	18	-1	71	70	74	69	284
T61	Seung-Su Han	KOR	4	18	5	72	69	68	75	284
T61	Yosuke Asaji	JPN	4	18	5	72	67	70	75	284
T61	Chez Reavie	USA	4	13	1	77	70	66	–	213
T61	Jinichiro Kozuma	JPN	4	13	-1	75	69	71	–	215
T66	Shugo Imahira	JPN	5	14	Par	74	69	72	–	215
T66	Jordan Spieth	USA	5	13	1	74	71	69	–	214
T66	Scott Piercy	USA	5	13	1	78	68	68	–	214
T69	Jason Kokrak	USA	6	14	2	74	70	70	–	214
T69	Kevin Kisner	USA	6	13	3	75	70	68	–	213
T69	Marc Leishman	AUS	6	13	1	76	70	69	–	215
72	Mikumu Horikawa	JPN	7	13	2	72	75	68	–	215
T73	Ryan Moore	USA	9	16	6	72	69	72	–	213
T73	Kevin Streelman	USA	9	12	Par	78	69	72	–	219
75	Joel Dahmen	USA	11	12	1	72	76	72	–	220
76	Matthew Fitzpatrick	ENG	12	13	2	75	71	74	–	220
RET	Graeme McDowell	NIR	Par	–	129	81	–	–	–	81
RET	Nate Lashley	USA	Par	–	137	73	–	–	–	73