AKRON, Ohio -- If Tiger Woods is going to win the final edition of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club, he will need a big Saturday.
The bad news for Woods: His second-round 68 left him five shots back of co-leaders Ian Poulter, Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Thomas and in a tie for 10th.
The good news for Woods: He leads the PGA Tour in third-round scoring average at 68.2.
"I'm going to have to," Wood said of needing a low Saturday round after making four birdies and two bogeys. "The golf course is playing very soft, very receptive, and when you're able to hit 5-irons and they only roll out about a foot, the guys are going to put up good scores.
"There's 40-plus guys under par. That's never the case here at Firestone. So tomorrow's going to be one of those days I'm going to have to go out there and post a low one and see what happens."
There are 45 players under par out of 71 through 36 holes and Woods actually lost ground on the leaders after starting the day four strokes back.
Like Thursday, Woods hit just 7 of 14 fairways. Also like Thursday, he hit 13 of 18 greens. The difference was two more putts.
Still, this is the first time since the 2015 Wyndham Championship that Woods has started a tournament with two rounds in the 60s, and it is the second-best he has been in any tournament this year through 36 holes; he was tied for second at the Valspar Championship.
It is also just the fifth time he has been in the top 10 after two rounds of any official event since his last victory five years ago at this tournament.
That was his 79th PGA Tour victory and eighth at Firestone, the venue for this tournament for the last time. It is moving to Memphis, Tennessee, in 2019.
"I felt better with my game than I did yesterday, for sure," he said. "I just didn't hit the putts hard enough. I felt a little bit more sharp, or a little bit more so than I did yesterday."
Although he needs a good score Saturday in order to get into contention, Woods said he will not alter his strategy.
"I play the golf course for what it has, and that's about as aggressive as I'll ever play this place," he said. "It's imperative to hit the ball in the fairway here because the rough is thick, but you hit the ball in the fairway and you know that you can flag some iron shots, they won't roll very far. It's imperative for me to get the ball in play, and if I'm there, go ahead and attack."