TIGER WOODS BATTLED through nausea, fever and vomiting to fire a three-under par 69 at the Hero World Challenge on Saturday.
The former world number one birdied the last three holes to stand on level par after three rounds at Isleworth but remained last in the 18-player field.
“It wasn’t easy. I fought hard,” Woods said in a hoarse whisper. “Spent all I had.”
Woods, who had not played competitively since the PGA Championship in August because of a back injury, vomited from the first hole onward, making six birdies and three bogeys on the day.
“I’ve been throwing up for hours,” Woods said, noting he has unable to keep down food or sleep well but was not in pain and never considered quitting.
“I wasn’t doing too good at the beginning but I thought I could hang in there,” Woods said. “The fever just broke. As the round went on I was starting to feel better.”
Woods, who opened with a 77 on Thursday, fired a 70 on Friday with a fever but was worse off on Saturday.
“I didn’t have nausea and vomiting before,” Woods said, adding that it left him weaker.
“I just didn’t have the explosiveness,” he said. “I was pretty slow.”
Runaway leader Jordan Spieth fired a bogey-free 63 to move to 20-under, seven strokes ahead of Henrik Stenson and Keegan Bradley.