Tiger Woods, in series of masters wins, shows his dominance for new generation.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Twenty-two years after Tiger Woods lifted the curtain on the wave version of the Broadway sensation "Cats", he has the stage for an enchanting encore.

With a five-under-par 67 in the third round at Augusta National on Saturday, Woods qualified for his first big win since 2008, at the same Augusta National stage where he stole the show in 1997 with a record-breaking 12-stroke victory in his first major as a professional.

Woods will enter the final for second place with Tony Finau, two strokes behind Francesco Molinari, who was 66 for a 54-hole total of 13-under 203.

21-year-old Woods a triple American Amateur champion who asked for a green jacket from a winner hanging loosely on him because he expected to grow into it during the course of his career. Now 43, with 14 major titles and four back-operations behind him, Woods is ready to do what nobody – and certainly not he – thought possible two years ago: to continue to expand his heritage. With a win, he went to three major titles behind the record of Jack Nicklaus 18.

For the 2017 Masters, Woods flew to the Champions Dinner and spent the evening in terrible physical discomfort. So great was the pain in Woods & # 39; s lower back, he told one of his fellow diners: "I'm done. I won't play golf again."

On the eve of this year's tournament hit Woods presented that difficult time in a speech after accepting the Ben Hogan Award, presented to a player who remained active in the game despite a physical disability or serious injury or illness. He said he needed a pain-relieving injection to get the food two years ago, and was traveling directly from Augusta National to the airport for a flight to England to consult a spine specialist who recommended spinal fusion surgery.

Woods traveled to Texas that same month for the operation, which he described as "a last resort" after three less complex operations. His purpose at the time, he said, was not to resume his winning ways in golf, but to regain a quality of life that allowed him to play with his two children and engage in daily activities with minimal physical distress.

Before Woods returned last year for his first competitive start at Augusta National since 2015, he described himself as "a walking miracle." Woods was 32 years old last year, a performance he used as a launch pad to fight the British Open, where he tied for the sixth and the PGA Championship, where he finished second. Last September Woods won his first P.G.A. Tour title since 2013, and his 80th overall, during the Tour Championship in Atlanta, a two-hour drive from Augusta National.

If Woods wins his fifth Masters title, he will have to overcome a group of players who do not look. Molinari, 36, was combined with Woods in the final round of last year's British Open and took the lead off of him to win his first major title.

And a blow behind Woods and Finau is lurking Brooks Koepka, who stopped Woods to win the PGA Championship. The younger competitors of Everything Woods know how to win, they learned in their formative years by seeing him attack without fear or finesse.

"He plays against guys he kind of breeds," Finau said, adding, "The way he dominated and watched him grow up, it was as if he wasn't afraid of anyone. So I think many of us are trying to be like him and try to be where nothing on the golf course can scare us and show our skills. "

Finau, 29, who is the PGA Tour & # 39; s first full- time player of Samoan and Tongan descent, watched the broadcast of Woods' victory in his family's home in Salt Lake City. Finau, who was 7, said that when he saw Woods as the first colorful man to slip on the green jacket, he was inspired to play golf.

"I saw someone who had the same skin color as me," Finau said in an interview last year. "As a child I could relate to that."

From the moment he started taking photos in a mattress in his family's garage, Finau fantasized about being grouped with Woods in the final round of a big one. His dream comes true on Sunday when he plays in the last trio with Molinari and Woods. Masters officials postponed the starting times and decided to send the players out in trios instead of in pairs and in both the first and tenth tee, due to a heavy weather forecast for late Sunday afternoon. The last thing they want is for it to go through the climax finish of their 83rd tournament.

Woods' revival has had the effect of introducing him to a generation of children who were not born when he won his most recent major title, at the 2008 United States Open. The young people may wonder what they are concerned about when they see muscular players like Koepka and Jason Day.

Woods borrowed a training page from the 83-year-old Gary Player, the first fitness fanatic of the sport, and added a few chapters. Woods worked as if he were a big recipient or a field and field match. He was determined to destroy the perception that golfers were not real athletes. His dominance and the muscles he formed with the help of a heavy lifting regime increased the attraction of golf to 20-something players like Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth – both major winners – who were skilled in multiple sports.

Before this year's tournament, Spieth, the 2015 champion, described Woods' fourth victory over Augusta in 2005 as "a sort of big reason why I fell in love with golf."

And Spieth was hardly alone. Johnson said about Woods: "He made some sort of golf, you know, a cool sport to play."

Whatever happens on Sunday, Woods will be at the front, which is great for the Masters, better for golf and the very best for Woods, who thought he was ready not so long ago. At this year's Champions Dinner, Player said he couldn't hold his smile when he casually asked Woods how he was doing. As Player recalled on Thursday, there was nothing unreasonable about his answer.

"I am not ready yet," said Woods.