ATLANTA — Eighteen holes rest between Tiger Woods and one of the crowning achievements of his storied career.

Eighteen holes from a comeback for the ages.

Eighteen holes from his first PGA Tour title in more than five years.

On a bright, hot Saturday at East Lake Golf Club, Woods turned golf on its axis and turned a masterful start reminiscent of his best days of yesteryear into a three-shot lead heading into Sunday’s final round of The Tour Championship, the FedExCup finale.

Yes, this could happen. Yes, he could win again 17 months after his spine was fused. Yes, he’s back to being a major contender.

With every part of his game on point, Woods, who shared the 36-hole lead with world No. 1 Justin Rose, made birdie on six of his first seven holes, the lone exception coming at the par-3 second. He missed just one fairway and hit every green in those first seven holes and his iron play was impeccable. As was his putting stroke as the golf ball found the bottom of the cup after traveling 23 feet on the first, 8 feet on the third, 22 on the fourth, and then from 7, 6 and 5 feet on the next three holes.

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The last birdie came after he rifled a 9-iron from a bunker 160 yards from the seventh green to 5 feet.

During those seven holes, it was vintage 2000 again, or 2001, or 2005 or 2006 or 2007 or 2008, the years he was an intimidating force who ruled over the game. In those seven holes, he reminded all of us how good he was and how good he can be again. In those seven holes, he was scary good, and the massive crowds were roaring their approval.

“Yeah, I got off to a nice start there,” Woods said with a big grin. “I made some nice putts. Good Lord. Other than No. 3, every putt was uphill, so it was nice. I felt like I could free-wheel it, and they went in.”

While Tiger tailed off the rest of the round compared to the start, he finished with a 5-under-par 65 — the low round of the day. He has worked himself into his first 54-hole lead since the 2013 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, which was his last victory. He is 53-4 when he has at least a share of the lead after 54 holes. And the last time he squandered a lead after three rounds was the 2009 PGA Championship when Y.E. Yang toppled him.

With rounds of 65-68-65, Woods is at 12 under, three shots clear of Rory McIlroy (66) and Rose (68). It’s another three shots back to Kyle Stanley (67) and Jon Rahm (68). McIlroy will be paired with Woods in the final group Sunday.

“I dreamed as a little kid playing in the final group with Tiger in a big tournament,” McIlroy said. “He was the best in the world, of all time, and you dream of beating the best.

“But all I can do is worry about myself. It doesn't matter who it is I'm playing with. It's obviously exciting for the golf tournament. It's exciting for golf in general that he's up there. But for me, all I can do is concentrate on myself. The game is hard enough without looking at other people. I have to go out there, take care of my business, and hopefully that's good enough.”

Woods has gone through a lot of trial and error this year to get his game in shape to be good enough to win his 80th PGA Tour title. After fusion surgery to his spine 17 months ago, Woods worked his body back into shape and then started on his golf game.

After missing the cut in the Genesis Open in February, he realized he was healthy enough to add tournaments instead of subtracting them. At that moment, he knew he could put together a swing that would work against the best players in the world — and 22 of the top 25 are here this week.

He’s fiddled with equipment all year looking to match it up with his swing. A key moment came before the first FedExCup Playoffs event when he added loft and changed the shaft in his driver. Since then, it’s become a weapon again.

“I’ve gone through a lot this year to get myself to this point, and understanding and fighting my way through it, I'm certainly more equipped than I was in March because of what I've gone through,” Woods said. “It feels great to have worked my way into this spot. This has been a difficult setup. It's a golf course that's very easy to make bogeys, and it's difficult to make birdies. My game plan throughout the week has been very conservative.

“And occasionally I'll get hot for a couple holes and try and take advantage of it. It hasn't been real complicated.”

All week there’s been something different about Woods. There’s been a look about him, one screaming confidence, that he’s the Alpha Male once again. On a ball-strikers course that fits his game — he won here in 2007 and finished second in 2009 — he feels right at home. And he was in form, having finished in a tie for fourth in the BMW Championship, the third of four events in the playoffs.

And there’s something different about his position on the leaderboard after three rounds than at any time this year. He’s the one being chased.

In his previous six top-6 finishes, Woods, with the exception of the Valspar Championship, has had too much ground to make up in the final 18 holes. He was five back at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and while he got within one stroke of the lead after 69 holes, he fell into a tie for fifth.

He was six back in the Quicken Loans National and tied for fourth. He was four back in the British Open and tied for sixth after taking the outright lead on the back nine. He was four back at the PGA Championship before rallying to finish second. He was five back at the BMW Championship.

“Simple math says that if I play a clean card, the guys behind me have to shoot 67 to force it into extra (holes)," Woods said. “That helps. I don't have to shoot 63 or 64 and hope I get help. That's a big difference.

“This is a spot I'd much rather be in than certainly four or five back.”

Follow Steve DiMeglio on Twitter @Steve_DiMeglio.