Tiger Woods will set PGA Tour wins record — it’s just a matter of when

LA JOLLA, Calif. — It might happen Sunday. It probably won’t. But it could.

Jon Rahm’s lead over Tiger Woods in the Farmers Insurance Open — at 12-under par after he posted a 7-under-par 65 in Saturday’s third round at Torrey Pines — is five shots.

Can Woods, who’s 7-under par after shooting a 3-under 69 Saturday, chase down Rahm, the 2017 winner of this tournament, despite having 12 players between him and the leader?

It’s not likely, but it’s not out of the question.

Tiger Woods will need an epic final round to capture his 83rd PGA Tour victory at Torrey Pines

Win No. 83 awaits Woods, who’s tied with Sam Snead for the most career PGA Tour victories of all time.

And No. 83 is going to come for Woods — whether it’s Sunday, in February at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera, in March at the Arnold Palmer Invitational or Players Championship or in April at Augusta for the Masters, which he won last year (win No. 81). It may come further down the fairway than that. But it’s going to come.

Asked after Saturday’s round what 83 will mean to him when and if he gets there, Woods responded, “I’ll just say what 82 means: consistency over a long period of time.

“You’re not going to win them all, and I’ve put myself there in the position to win a lot of events. I’ve lost my share of events, but in order to win them, you’ve got to be there a lot. Over the course of 20-plus years out here, I’ve been pretty consistent.’’

Asked if he considers his 82 wins more impressive than the 15 major championships he owns, Woods said with a smile, “I think they’re both good numbers.’’

If Woods manages to reach that mark Sunday, he’ll look back at the par save he made on No. 18 Saturday — draining a 15-foot putt after a bunker shot with his third — as a putt that kept him within striking distance of the lead entering the final round.

“That was important because I feel like I was potentially going to be left behind,’’ Woods said of avoiding the bogey blemish on No. 18. “I’ve still got to go out there and post a low one [Sunday], still got to make a bunch of birdies tomorrow and move up that board. I’m not going get [to No. 83 just] playing the first couple holes [well].’’

Woods crept up the leaderboard Saturday with birdies on Nos. 1 (where he had a four-putt double on Friday), 3, 6 and 9 to get to 8-under par and just two shots out of the lead at the time.

But he stalled on the back, posting a 1-over 37 with a bogey on No. 11.

“The goal was to get to double digits at the end of the day,’’ Woods said. “I figured that would be within maybe the last couple groups going out [Sunday]. I wasn’t quite able to get there, but hopefully [Sunday] I can get off to another quick start and keep it going.’’

If he does, you never know.

And if he does, Rory McIlroy, one of the top players in the game, knows exactly where he’d place 83 wins in ranking order of Woods’ litany of career accomplishments. Eighty-three wins or 15 majors?

“The wins, the wins … so much, the wins,’’ McIlroy said. “It’s relentless. A really good season these days is three or four wins a year, and he was doubling that year on year on year on year. To be on a pursuit, that’s just so … it’s relentless.

“You could win a few majors, take your foot off the gas a bit, life’s good. But it was just foot to the floor and just keep moving forward [for Woods]. That’s to me the most impressive thing.’’

Asked if Woods gets to 83, he would consider that to be the ultimate record on his résumé, McIlroy said, “I think it already is the ultimate, because Snead’s 82 is questionable. No, it’s true, no?’’

Indeed, there are those who poke holes in Snead’s long-standing mark of 82 wins because three of his wins came in events played over 36 holes, with another tournament just 18 holes. One of those 36-hole tournaments, the 1946 World Championship of Golf, had just four players in the field.

Snead, too, won the Palm Beach Round Robin five times, and those counted on his record despite the fact that he faced just 15 competitors in four of those instances and 14 in the other.

The fact is, though, the PGA Tour recognizes Snead’s 82 as the record.

Records, of course, are meant to be broken and Woods, who’s broken a lot of them, is going to break this one.

The only question is: When? – nypost.com