Strong start the key to Woods' Sawgrass challenge

Two-time Players Championship winner Tiger Woods was delighted to return to form at Sawgrass on Saturday.

Tiger Woods believes his strong start at Sawgrass was the key to a seven-under 65 in the third round of The Players Championship on Saturday.

The 14-time major champion had struggled through the opening two rounds to only just make the cut, but he was back to his best early in the weekend and hit six birdies down the front nine.

Although that form slowed later in the round, Woods had few complaints and enjoyed playing some of his most impressive golf in recent years after starting well.

"I finally got off to a good start, birdied the first couple of holes and kept it rolling from there," he said, when asked for the reason behind his improvement.

"I hit a lot of good shots today and it was nice to see a few putts go in.

"Overall, the whole day had a lot of quality shots - 65 was probably as high as I could have shot, which is nice."

He added: "I wish I could repeat it more often but, honestly, it was just [about] a better start."

And Woods is not stopping there, as he hopes to continue to rebuilding his game: "Eventually, I want to put all of the pieces together. Today, for the most part, I did that."