Tiger Woods has put himself in a position to compete for his 15th major championship.
The 43-year-old shot a 4-under 68 to move to 6 under for the tournament and is within one shot of the lead.
"It was fun," he told ESPN after his round. "I feel like I left a few shots out there, but overall it was a solid day.
"I was very patient, just kind of hung in there, kind of kept grinding and trying to make a birdie here and there when I could and if I had a green light situation really attack."
He mostly did it with a superb back nine including back-to-back birdies on 14 and 15 after wonderful recoveries from tough spots.
On 14, Woods found himself in the pine straw to the left of the fairway, but put his shot on the dance floor and then holed a beautiful putt.
He also did that after a security guard inadvertently attempted to slide tackle him after his approach shot when he was trying to keep spectators back.
The security guard almost took out Tiger😬
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 12, 2019
(via @CBSSports)pic.twitter.com/qu8voUgLQi
Woods came up shaking out his foot after the collision and he may have been feeling the after effects on his next tee shot as he pulled it way left on the 15th.
"It is what it is, accidents happen and you move on," Woods said.
He continued: "I'm good."
That shot forced him to lay up, but on his third he put one on the green and gave himself a shot at birdie.
And when Woods is playing like this, all he needs is a shot.
He jarred the putt from downtown to put him one shot back of the lead.
BIG fist pump. 🐅@TigerWoods is one off the lead.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/0SoLtPTUwn
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 12, 2019
Woods had two chances to tie the lead at the end of his round but he missed a six-foot putt on 17 and another one from about 12 to 14 to end it.
The 14-time major champion is in contention once again after finishing in the top 10 at each of the Open Championship and PGA last season and that knowledge has him confident for the weekend.
"The last three major championships I've been right there," he said. "So it's three in a row, I've been right there in the mix.
"I had the lead in the British Open at one point on the back nine on Sunday and had a shot at it against Brooksie (Koepka) at the PGA and all of a sudden here I am at the Masters."