It was not pretty but Tiger Woods carded his best round of the Farmers Insurance Open as Alex Noren replaced Ryan Palmer atop the leaderboard.
Former world number one Woods was wayward from the tee, only hitting three fairways and nine greens over 18 holes during Saturday's third round at Torrey Pines.
But the 14-time major champion – who only just made the cut at one under Friday – putted his way to a two-under-par 70 in San Diego, California.
Woods, making his first official PGA Tour start since missing the cut at Torrey Pines last year, returned to the South Course Saturday and he failed to hit the fairway on any of his first six holes after starting on the 10th.
However, he showed his qualities to scramble to four pars and three birdies, though he dropped two shots to reach the turn one-under.
Woods was flawless on the front nine, going bogey-free with a birdie as the American veteran closed out the round three under and eight shots behind Noren.
Sweden's Noren hit the front in the penultimate round thanks to his three-under-par 69 – earning him a one-stroke advantage.
An eagle on six moved Noren to the top of the leaderboard, though he was joined at the summit for a brief period by Palmer, Luke List and Jon Rahm.
A double-bogey six at the 12th sent him tumbling but Noren recovered with birdies at the 13th, 16th and 18th to cement top spot.
Palmer bogeyed two of his final five holes to drop to second in the standings following his third-round 73 – ending the American's run of back-to-back scores in the 60s.
J.B. Holmes (65) and Michael Kim (70) are two shots off the pace, while former world number one Jason Day (71) is a stroke further back alongside Justin Rose (69).
World number two Rahm dropped to seven under after four bogeys and a final-hole double-bogey saw the Spaniard post a forgettable 75.
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