Challengers face tall task in chasing Tiger

• By Will Gray
• Jan 27, 2013 10:17 PM ET

SAN DIEGO – Trailing by six shots with less than a full round to play, Brandt Snedeker and Nick Watney both know that the odds are stacked against them heading into a Monday finish at the Farmers Insurance Open. Having to chase down Tiger Woods – at Torrey Pines, no less – likely won't help matters.

"I've got a long way to go," said Snedeker, who is the defending champion this week. "I've got a guy at the top of the leaderboard that doesn't like giving up leads, so I have to go catch him."

Snedeker appeared out of contention after a 3-over 75 in Friday's second round, but rallied Sunday to play 31 holes at the South Course in 7 under par.

"I did a great job today of staying patient and playing good golf," he added. "Just need to go out there tomorrow morning and finish with three or four birdies."

Watney, who won here in 2009, appeared ready to make a run at Woods early Sunday, but was derailed by three back-nine bogeys to close out his third round. He remains hopeful that a challenge can be mounted, but admits he will likely need Woods to somehow fall back to the pack in order to do so.

"All I can do is I'm going to try to make as many birdies as I can," said Watney, who will begin on the par-5 ninth hole Monday morning. "Maybe he can help me out a little bit, I don't know. But I can't just hand it to him, as a competitor. So we'll come out and see how close we can get."