AUGUSTA, Ga. -- There were moments when Tiger Woods looked
like he had never played at the Masters, let alone won it three
times.
Errant drives, off-target approaches and, most notably, a few
unfathomable reads on the greens turned the third round at Augusta
National into a mess for Woods. He shot 3-over-par 75 and wound up
at 3 over, tied for 20th place, nine shots behind leaders Phil Mickelson
and Chris DiMarco.
It's folly, of course, to count Woods completely out of any
tournament, no matter what the deficit. But after Saturday, it's
hard to imagine him being fitted for a fourth green jacket.
"I'm very close to putting it altogether," he said, repeating
a mantra he's used all year. "I made absolutely nothing today. If
I make a few and put the ball in the fairway tomorrow -- I have 18
chances at it -- hopefully, I'll putt better than I did today."
Officially, he needed 30 putts on Saturday, but that number
doesn't tell the whole story.
The most telling episode came on the eighth green. Woods spent a
full three minutes circling it, checking out angles and debating
with his caddie, Steve Williams, about the 70-foot putt from the
fringe he needed to roll over a large hump and down toward the
hole.
The extra time didn't pay off. Woods hit the ball straight
across the green, hoping it would reach the top of the hill and
feed down. But it got to the top and stopped, leaving him 35 feet
from the hole, in need of a tough two-putt for par.
He called it bad luck, in that he didn't hit the approach
another foot or two. He also conceded he was bamboozled by the
first putt, a surprising statement from a player who has mastered
this course during the past seven years.
"I had absolutely no chance at it," he said. "I didn't know
whether it was going to go left or going to go right. That's how it
goes."
It also went bad on No. 14, the most heavily contoured green on
the course. Woods hit his approach shot well short, and on the
right fringe. By that time, he was hurrying things a bit and it
showed. Trying to get the ball near the hole at the back left,
Woods putted up a hill that resembled a buried elephant, only to
watch it take a U-turn and come back down the other side, stopping
almost as far from the cup as it began.
He made bogey there to move to 5 over, and by then, the huge
gallery that followed him to begin the day had thinned
considerably. Those who stayed weren't so nice.
"C'mon, Jay. Show Tiger how it's done," one fan yelled as
Woods and playing partner Jay Haas approached the 15th tee.
"We all know he's the kind of guy who can come out here and
shoot 65," Haas said. "If he comes out and things start clicking
for him, he can pull it off."
Indeed, Woods shot 69 on Friday to get back into the tournament.
But if the Woods who carded 75s on both Thursday and Saturday
reappears, he'll be playing for a paycheck, and not much else.
Other third-round lowlights included:
-- A drive into the right bunker on No. 1, en route to bogey.
-- A missed 4-footer that would have saved par on No. 9.
-- A miscalculated shot on No. 12 -- the short par-3 -- that went
behind the green, forcing him to scramble for par.
-- A drive on No. 13 that pinballed around in the woods, leaving
him with an awkward punch-out that clipped another tree before
rolling across the fairway. He hit his third shot -- "a beautiful
5-iron," he called it -- that hit the top of the hill on back of
the green and barely trickled into a bunker. After overcooking the
sand shot, he needed three putts to make double bogey.
"It's frustrating, because I'm so close," Woods said.
He kept in range with two birdies over the last four holes.
Always an optimist, he was counting on some windy, wicked weather
Sunday to equalize things and give him a chance.
He'll need that kind of help, plus a collapse from his
opponents, plus a boost in his game.
"As we know, anything can happen," he insisted. "I just want
to come out and play well."