DiMarco Leads, Tiger Lurks, and 27 to Go at Augusta

Chris DiMarco fired a second straight 67 to finish off his second round in the morning, then came out firing in the afternoon with three birdies and no bogeys to get to -13. Tiger Woods, who finished off his morning with a tidy little 66, birdied five holes against no bogeys in the opening nine of the third round to get to -9.

Jack Nicklaus made news as well, noting that he would be playing in his last Masters. “I knew it was my last time walking up the fairway,” said Nicklaus. “Obviously, I had made up my mind. This is just too tough for me. I just can’t do this.” He tipped his hat to the gallery at the ninth – his last hole – and received a round of applause. This year marked the 45th Masters for the Golden Bear, winner of six. He finished at 153, +9 and five off the cut.

Beginning the third round, DiMarco sat at -10, four ahead of Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn and six ahead of Tiger, whose 74-66 start put him in at 140. One back at 141 were England’s David Howell and Vijay Singh. Phil Mickelson sat one behind at 142, and once again Vijay followed Phil around Augusta National after getting into an argument of sorts during the second round.

Chris DiMarco, who was tied for the lead going into the final round last year before showing Phil Mickelson the way to win on the 72nd hole, has led at the Masters five times in the past five years. Said Chris, “I noticed how I separated myself from the field. I’m glad to be able to go back out today.” When asked the last time he felt this good at The Masters, he calmly replied “last year.”

DiMarco’s score is founded upon solid play at the par 5s. While Woods has two bogeys on the three-shotters, DiMarco was -6 in 8 attempts. He birdied both in his afternoon nine to get to -8 after 10. Woods matched DiMarco’s play on the par 5s in the afternoon.

Woods’ second-round 66 is the lowest round of the tournament so far, and with a front-nine 31 in the third round, he may be looking to break his own score. “You’ve just got to keep plugging along,” said Tiger.

The third round began late for some players – Tiger Woods teed off at 5:35pm – and not without some controversy. A “computer glitch” (they should be using Macs!) forced Augusta National officials to do the pairings by hand, causing a 20-minute delay and plenty of confusion. Some players went off the wrong tees, others were paired incorrectly, and others, like Tiger Woods, couldn’t estimate their starting time to properly warm up, missing by as much as an hour and fifteen minutes.

Tiger, who has played his last set of nines (front, back, front) in 33, 33, and 31, got off to a solid start, parring the first. He two-putted for birdie at the par-5 second after a 380-yard drive, and birdied the par-four third. He parred the dangerous front-nine par threes as well as the fifth, a tricky par four. He holed putts of five and 18 feet on 7 and 8 before knocking a wedge to the par-4 ninth to within three feet for his third consecutive birdie. Tiger’s drive on the par-4 10th came to rest in the middle of the fairway, and as he walked after his ball the horn sounded, signalling the end of play. Woods’ ball had a big chunk of mud on the back, but he’ll be allowed to clean and replace the ball tomorrow – a bit of luck in a week that has seen some bad luck for Tiger.

In the face of a Tiger onslaught, many have wilted in the past. Not Chris DiMarco. Not today. DiMarco made birdies at the second, seventh, and eighth to clear a four-stroke advantage going into Sunday’s final 27 holes. With 12 putts on the front nine (and only 66 through 45 holes this week), DiMarco saved pars twice from precarious positions. Though Chris, starting on #10 on Thursday, made a bogey on his opening hole, he’s not made one since – a streak of 44 consecutive holes. The record – 50 consecutive holes without a bogey at The Masters – is held by Stuart Appleby.

Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn began the third round paired with DiMarco and managed to go from -6 to -8 with a bogey hiccup at the 7th. Bjorn birdied the first, third, and eighth. Asked of his chances, Bjorn responded “If Chris keeps playing golf the way he is, he’s going to be very difficult to catch. It’s fine golf.” When asked about Tiger, Bjorn backpedaled on DiMarco a bit, saying
“Tiger is Tiger. When he gets on these kind of runs, you never know what’s going to happen.” Safe to say Bjorn won’t be placing his life’s savings on any one player this Sunday.

History may be on Tiger’s side. In 2000, Jack Nicklaus played his last PGA Championship, his last U.S. Open, and supposedly his last British Open. Tiger won all three. Jack’s final shot at the Masters was a tap-in for par at the ninth after he missed a four-footer for birdie. Woods’ streak of 10 majors without a win matches the lesser of Jack’s two droughts – 10 and 12. Said Woods of his disappointing 74 in the first round, “I kept telling myself I was hitting good shots, but nothing happened.” He told himself “Just hang in there, and keep hitting quality shots and it will turn. Luckily, it turned.”

However, Woods has never come from behind to win a major. He may not have to Sunday, as both he and DiMarco face the treacherous back nine before the final round begins. Perhaps the saddest thing in all of this is that we, the golf fans, won’t get to see much of the third round. Play will begin again at 8am ET, and the final group should tee off just before 3pm to start the final round.

Pos     Player        Today  Thru   Tot    R1    R2    R3    Tot
1       C. DiMarco      -3     9    -13    67    67    -     134
2       T. Woods        -5     9     -9    74    66    -     140
3       T. Bjorn        -2     9     -8    71    67    -     138
T4      R. Pampling     -4    12     -4    73    71    -     144
T4      V. Singh        -1    10     -4    68    73    -     141
T4      M. Hensby       -2     9     -4    69    73    -     142
T7      T. Immelman     -5    15*    -3    73    73    -     146
T7      L. Donald       -4    15     -3    68    77    -     145
T7      M. Weir         -4    15     -3    74    71    -     145
T7      T. Herron       -3    13     -3    76    68    -     144
T7      K. Triplett     -2    10     -3    75    68    -     143
T7      P. Mickelson    -1    11     -3    70    72    -     142
T13     C. Campbell     -4     F     -2    73    73    68    214
T13     T. Levet        -4    17     -2    71    75    -     146
T13     C. Parry        -5    13*    -2    72    75    -     147
T13     D. Howell       +1     9     -2    72    69    -     141
T17     A. Scott        -4    12*    -1    71    76    -     147
T17     J. Furyk         E    11     -1    76    67    -     143
* Began play on #10

The cut came at +4, and many notable players missed it, including:

Sergio Garcia           +5
Charles Howell III      +5
Padraig Harrington      +5
Lee Westwood            +6
Fred Funk               +6
Davis Love III          +7
Jesper Parnevik         +7
Zach Johnson            +8
David Toms              +8
David Duval             +8
Jack Nicklaus           +9
Jose Maria Olazabal     +9
John Daly              +10
Paul Casey             +13
Shigeki Maruyama       +14

Catch final-round action of The Masters Sunday on CBS from 2:30pm ET to its conclusion.