AUGUSTA, Ga.--The early drama Saturday in the 67th Masters waswhether Tiger Woods would make the cut.
By the end of the day, the question was whether anyone would stophim from winning an unprecedented third consecutive green jacket.
After having to save par from the trees and a bunker on his finalhole of the second round just to keep playing, Woods fashioned aflawless 6-under-par 66 to move to 1 under, only four strokes off thelead held by Jeff Maggert.
I knew if I could post a good number, I could get right back init," said Woods, who entered the third round 11 strokes behind leaderMike Weir. It's tough to shoot a low number with these pins whenyou're leading. You're not going to be that aggressive."
Weir frittered away what was once a six-shot lead with a third-round 75. He's two behind Maggert, who overcame a double bogey tomatch Woods' 66, entering the final round today.
Behind them is a group of four players with major-championshippedigree--Vijay Singh and David Toms at 2 under and Woods and JoseMaria Olazabal at 1 under--and one player, Phil Mickelson at 1 under,who dearly would love to join the club.
It's a position you dream about--going into Sunday at Augusta withthe lead," said Maggert, a steady player throughout the 1990s who hadfallen off the map. It's been a struggle the last two years. I'vetaken a new attitude to try to get better each week."
Woods has gotten better in each round since opening with a 76. Hewas looking to make a run in the completion of the second round earlySaturday, but he hit a loose pitch for his third shot to the par-5second and missed a short birdie putt at the third.
From there, it got progressively worse," said Woods, who knockedit from one bunker to another for a double bogey at the par-3 fourth.
After three-putting for bogey at the par-5 eighth, Woods needed topar the ninth to extend his cut streak--the third-longest in history--to 102 events. He lost his drive in the right trees and had no shotat the green. He punched a 5-iron off the pine straw into the frontbunker, blasted to four feet and holed the tough sidehill putt.
No doubt about it," Woods said, rolling his eyes as he came out ofthe scoring tent. That putt was either going in or going off thegreen."
Beginning his third round at the 10th as the leaders were teeingoff on the front side, Woods steadily climbed from the back of thefield. He got the momentum rolling with a big-breaking 50-footer atthe 11th, then got some good fortune at the par-5 13th. He hit hissecond shot in the hazard, but the ball stayed out of the creek andhe was able to get up and down for birdie.
I got some good breaks going my way," Woods said. From there, Ihit solid shot after solid shot."
That included his approach to the seventh that fed down the slopeto tap-in range, putting him in red figures for the first time allweek. After narrowly making the cut, Woods said he still had victoryin mind.
At the time, I was only seven shots out of second place," he said.That's not much on this course."
The margin is even slimmer now, thanks in part to Weir'sstruggles. Normally one of the crispest iron players in the game, heconsistently put himself in bad positions on and around the greens.For the week, he is hitting only 48 percent of his greens inregulation.
Weir had been keeping it together with a sharp wedge game and adeft putter, but he three-putted from the front fringe at the ninthand made another bogey when his ball plugged in the bank just abovethe pond at the 11th.
He lost another stroke to par when his second shot at the par-513th drifted right and dropped in the creek. A two-putt birdie at the15th was negated by bogeys at the 16th and 17th, and a weary Weir washappy the day was over.
It will feel good to get some rest tonight," he said of playing 54holes in two days. My round was a little disappointing, but sometimesthat's what this course is going to give you. I wasn't nervous; itjust didn't pan out."
It hasn't panned out for Maggert in seven of the eight tournamentshe has led after three rounds. Meanwhile, the best closer in golf isbreathing down his neck.
But Woods never has come from behind to win a major, having heldat least a share of the 54-hole lead in all eight of his titles.
That's not a bad spot to be in," he said. But in this tournament,anything can happen on the back nine. You just need to get yourselfin position. Even though I'm four back, that's not inconceivable."
No comments:
Post a Comment