Tiger Woods finally found some form during the final round at the Players Championship even if it was too little and too late.

He is not used to teeing off at 9.25am on Sunday, and the local fans in Bible-belt country had to choose between church and watching the world's greatest player on an overcast morning in north Florida.

Woods made a clumsy start with a double bogey at the par four fourth hole, failing to clear the water hazard guarding the green with his second shot from a fairway bunker.

However, he fought back with a birdie from 10 feet at the next, and soon afterwards reeled off four birdies in a row.

At the par-three eighth, he found the heart of the green and drained a 25-footer, while he reached the back of the green in two shots at the par five ninth, no mean feat at a 583-yard hole, and got up-and-down to pick up another shot.

His birdie run continued at the par four 10th, courtesy of a 10-footer, and he got up-and-down from a greenside bunker at the par five 11th.

Later, he eagled the par five 16th, striking his second shot from 200 yards to inside 10 feet, a feat that seemed likely to prevent him from notching his worst finish in 11 starts at the Players Championship, his previous worst result a tie for 53nd in 2005.

His ordinary record in past years could be put down to his driving inaccuracy on a course famous for its lush, penal rough, but this year it is a different story. The long rye grass has gone, replaced by a tropical Bermuda strain that has been cut down to only a couple of inches.

This has helped Phil Mickelson, who until this year had a horrible record here, but it does not seem to have helped Woods, at least not this year. He struggled with the putter the first three rounds, struggling to read the new greens.

Mickelson, on the other hand, used his noted short game to get out of trouble time and again, going into the final round only one stroke behind leader Sean O'Hair.