Tiger Woods and his caddie, Steve Williams, couldn't hold back their own delight in the third round.(How/Getty Images)

Call it, "Tiger's Third-Round Scorecard," and don't forget your sick bag. If you make it through the whole park, trust us, you won't believe the ending.

Tiger Woods had more twists and turns in the third round on Saturday than a carnival contortionist or the most curling, looping roller coaster in the world, and we're not even talking about that surgically repaired left knee that's getting worse as the week goes on.

How in the world, if you're Tiger Woods, do you execute three of the best shots in your life, yet only sign for a 1-under 70? It doesn't make sense unless it's the finest 1-under round in the history of the game, which this might be.

But then nothing much made sense, other than this: Tiger Woods is always great theater, and Saturday's performance was as good as it gets.

Major championships are just as loaded with trials and travails, and though he seems immortal, Woods is no exception. Of course, he's also exceptional. Even though it was only a 70, it was enough for the 54-hole lead at 3 under, one better than Lee Westwood. On a day in which he didn't have his "A" -- or even his "B" -- game off the tee, he climbed to the top of the leaderboard. And it's a good thing too, because as we all know Tiger has never come from behind to win a major.

Right out of the gate Saturday, it looked as though this round just wasn't meant to be for the world's No. 1 player. Forget the bum knee. The guy made double bogey at No. 1 for the second time in three days -- just his third double bogey of the 2008 PGA TOUR season in stroke-play and his third this week. Then a bogey at No. 4. Now he was 3 over through four holes on Moving Day ... and moving in the wrong direction.

This is where the excitement begins.

Whether or not Woods goes on to win his 14th major championship overall -- at the course where he's enjoyed more success than any other in the world (six PGA TOUR wins) -- really doesn't matter. Torrey Pines and the 108th U.S. Open have their legacy, and it's all thanks to Mr. Woods. In a matter of his last six holes, Woods shocked this tournament to life -- even more so than his second-nine 30 on Friday -- in the way Dr. Victor Frankenstein did to his monster, pulling off three once-in-a-lifetime shots.

First, Tiger rolls home a 66-foot eagle putt at No. 13. I won't go so far as to say it put the "better than most" putt on the island green in the 2001 PLAYERS to shame. I'll just say that when people talk about "the putt," in regard to Tiger Woods, they're now going to have to distinguish between the one on No. 17 at TPC Sawgrass and the one on No. 13 at Torrey Pines.

Just when we thought that would be the push Tiger needed to get things going ... breathe into your theme park-supplied brown paper bag ... he makes a punch-in-the-gut bogey at No. 14 to fall back to even par -- four off the lead at the time.

Feeling queasy yet?

After a couple of yawners for pars at Nos. 15 and 16, Tiger made his way to No. 17. It's a 441-yard par 4. He put a little too much cut on a massive tee shot and wound up in the right rough.

Usually, hitting it into the rough at the U.S. Open presents a big problem. That is, of course, unless you're Tiger Woods, and the U.S. Open is at Torrey Pines. He can play his way around this track -- from wherever -- just as well, if not better, than you can walk around your house in the dark. Or in broad daylight.

So, he's in that right rough at 17. His approach shot clears a greenside bunker on the left but seems to be sitting up just a tad. There's little green to work with. Any golfer on the planet would probably be happy to get this chip to stop within 15 feet of the cup.

Even Tiger was just trying to avoid making double bogey. But forget within 15 feet. In fact, forget 15 inches. How about one bounce and into the hole for a shoulda-been-at-least-a-bogey birdie?

As soon as the ball disappeared, Tiger looked up at his caddie, Stevie Williams, smiled is trillion-dollar smile and shook his head as if to ask, "Seriously? Am I serious right now? Did I just do that?"

He was serious, he did do it, but he wasn't done. I mean, shoot, he didn't have the lead yet. That still belonged Westwood who had just finished at 2 under. Tiger trailed by one. Now what kind of theme park would it be if its namesake didn't provide its visitors with the fairytale ending?

As Tiger proves time and time again, his ability to pull off the crucial shot under the most intense pressure cannot be overstated. After a perfect drive and a rip of the 5 wood from 227 yards, Tiger was on the dance floor at No. 18 in two, looking at a 40-footer for eagle.

Meanwhile, anyone watching is thinking, "Wow. A two-putt birdie and after all that, he's going to be tied for the lead going into the final round."

And that's why we're "us" and Tiger Woods is, well, "Tiger Woods."

While everyone was still catching their breath from the chip-in birdie on No. 17, Tiger stopped their hearts again, holing the 40-footer center-cut for his second eagle of the day and third of the tournament.

"Birdie, eagle finish -- it's Tiger," said D.J. Trahan, who's tied for fourth at 1 over. "It doesn't shock you when that happens. Obviously, he's the best frontrunner the game has ever seen. It will be tough to catch him. I'm looking forward to it. I'm glad I have the opportunity to go out there and give it a shot of running him down, albeit a very difficult task."

"I'm always a fan, always have been," added Rocco Mediate, who held the lead for much of the day before finishing at 1 under. "[Tiger is] completely out of his mind. The stuff he does, it's unreal."

So, did you enjoy the park? Well, get ready for another ride Sunday.