Haven, Wis. ? Tiger Woods tried to drive the 373-yard 14th hole at Whistling Straits, one last attempt to get something going in the PGA Championship. Instead, his tee shot landed in a small bed of gravel along a dirt path winding through sand bunkers and grassy knolls.

His position in a major championship was all too familiar. Woods was desperate to make birdies and catch up to the leaders, but he was running out of holes. And it only was Saturday.

Tiger Woods reacts to a missed birdie putt on the 16th hole. He finished the third round of the PGA Championship at 3-under par Saturday in Haven, Wis.

“It’s getting frustrating that I was not able to put myself up there,” Woods said after a feeble 69 in the third round, which was shaping up as the easiest day of scoring at Whistling Straits. “I just put myself too far back. The past few majors, that’s what ends up happening.”

As he walked toward the 15th green, Woods looked to the left at a large leaderboard that didn’t include his name. He was at 3-under 213. The leaders were at 9 under, still an hour away from even showing up at the course to eat lunch.

By the end of the day, he was right where he started — nine shots behind Vijay Singh, 23 other players ahead of him.

Barring a miracle, Woods will finish his 10th straight major without a trophy since winning the U.S. Open in 2002, matching the longest drought of his career.

“I’m going to need some help,” Woods said, hopeful the leaders would not run away. “That hurricane in Florida, I need it to make a turn to the north and get up here quick.”