Even the Golden Bear had trouble surviving the weather Saturday afternoon. Jack Nicklaus' magic Masters carpet ride derailed with an 81.
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The weather can play tricks on the world's best players. Add in the difficulty of Augusta National and you've got a train wreck on your hands.
Ten groups hadn't teed off when play was suspended at mid-day. When play resumed, they played a combined 338 holes. Their score? 69-over par.
Miguel Angel Jimenez and David Gossett shot 79s. Steve Elkington and Scott Gump shot 78s. Skip Kendall, Steve Pate, Colin Motgomerie and Paul Azinger shot 77s.
And Jack Nicklaus shot 81 -- the first time in 155 rounds at Augusta National that he'd failed to break 80. His back nine score was 44, including a triple-bogey at No. 12. He fell to from a tie for 18th to a tie for 52nd place.
"This is by far the toughest I've seen here," Nicklaus said. "The guys who played this morning -- did they get a break, or did they get a break?"
There were survivor stories. Fred Couples, Jesper Parnevik and Greg Norman all barely made the cut and were tied for 49th place after two rounds. Following 70s shot before the weather got bad, all are in a tie for 17th place.
Mike Weir shot 70 and went from 24th to sixth. Carlos Franco shot 70 and went from 39th to 10th.
And Tiger Woods and Davis Love III moved up 13 spots -- from 19th to sixth -- while sitting in the clubhouse.
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Roberts rules of order
Vijay Singh. David Duval. Ernie Els. Loren Roberts. Phil Mickelson. Tiger Woods. Davis Love III. Which of these men doesn't belong on the leaderboard entering the final day of The Masters?
The answer is Roberts, and it's got nothing to do with his skills as a player. In fact, Roberts is an accomplished pro, winning six PGA Tour events and more than $7 million in his career.
But Augusta National is made for power. And Roberts is the Boss of the Moss, not Mr. Grip It and Rip It.
Nonetheless, Roberts is in contention for his first major title for the first time since losing a playoff to Els at the 1994 U.S. Open. "I'm just glad to have the opportunity to be in this position again," said Roberts, 44, who had three top-10s in majors in 1994, but none since.
Roberts is surviving on guile, something he's done throughout his career, which included five trips to Q-School. Woods is first in driving this week. Mickelson is third. Duval is eighth. Singh is 10th. Els is 18th. Roberts, 191st in driving distance last year on the PGA Tour (51 yards shorter than leader John Daly), is 52nd. What's more, he's even-par on the par-5s this week. Singh, who leads the tournament, is 6-under.
Roberts' secret? He's fourth in driving accuracy and second in putting. "I've just been keeping the ball in the fairway all week," Roberts said after his 71 on Saturday. "It's that simple."
It always is for Roberts, who says he'll sleep in, get a good breakfast and be relaxed heading into Sunday's final round.
"The golf course has been set up so that everybody has a chance to play," said Roberts. "Everybody has a chance to shoot a score, because the greens have been receptive. I can get my 5-iron or 6-iron to stop, just like Tiger gets his 8-irons to stop."
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Daddy's home: Mike Weir almost didn't come to The Masters. His wife, Bricia, was about to give birth and he said he wouldn't miss it. But their second child, a girl named Lilly, was born in Utah on Monday. Weir came to Augusta on Tuesday, and he'll be in the final four groups of The Masters, thanks to his second straight 70. He was one of 10 players to break par in the third round (eight remain on the course).
"I have as good a shot as anybody," Weir said. "Anything can happen. If there are nine or 10 guys ahead of me, I have a shot."
Playing through: Tiger Woods backed away from a chip at No. 12 when a golf ball came flying through the woods behind him. Turns out a player at the adjacent Augusta Country Club got a little wild off the tee.
"It was like a scene out of 'Caddyshack2.' It was just splat, all over the green," said Woods. "We never saw a cart. We never saw anybody. I guess he was embarrassed and didn't want to come get his ball."
Woods left the ball, which he said wasn't a Titleist, alone.
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OVERHEARD
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DUVAL
On deciding to mark his ball on 15, rather than continue: "Pretty easy choice, really. I wasn't going to play any longer than I had to." |
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PRICE
On the wind: "Borderline impossible. I've never seen this course play this way ... whatever is going to happen out here is going to happen." |
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WEIR
On his ideal weather conditions for Sunday: "I want it to blow tomorrow. I'll have a better chance at it. I want it to play difficult." |
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ELS
On the conditions: "This is the coldest I've been in a while. I'm going to go get warm and regroup. Anybody par or better is in the ballgame. |
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