Rain muddies Masters
AUGUSTA, Ga. – A lot can happen with only a little daylight, so imagine what can happen in the kind of long, long day that is in store for the Masters now. Chad Campbell, Tiger Woods and a bunch of guys in between played just enough Saturday to set up a dawn-to-dusk sprint today.
“It could happen pretty easily,” said Woods, who is only three shots back with 27 holes to play – one shot better than he was on his way to a winning long Sunday last year.
There was so much action in so little time during a rain-abbreviated third round on Saturday that it was hard to keep up. Campbell had a day’s worth of ups and downs – two quick birdies, two quick bogeys – and he played only four holes. He is still 6 under par, but he has 32 holes to play and the world’s top five players on his heels.
Phil Mickelson, who birdied the first three holes and bogeyed the next two, is tied with Woods at 3 under. Retief Goosen, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh all are 2 under after a 4-hour, 18-minute rain delay and a little golf. Those five have 20 major championships among them.
That’s not to mention Rocco Mediate and Tim Clark, tied for second at 5 under after having each made a run in the short time between the end of a rainstorm and nightfall. All 17 of the players who are within five shots of the lead will be back at 7:45 a.m. EDT to finish the third round, then play the whole final round in a day that will be as draining physically as mentally. Said Mediate, who has a bad back and no career majors: “I’ll crawl around here if I have to.”
Campbell, who also never has won a major, said: “It’s going to be tough, but I don’t think winning any major is going to be easy. It’s where I want to be. Obviously, I would have liked to have had today go a little smoother with the weather, but that’s the way it goes. Get a good night’s rest and be ready for tomorrow.”
Everybody seemed ready for Saturday, even after the delay that kept the leaders from starting until after suppertime.
Clark, the 30-year-old South African, birdied three of the five holes he finished. “I could have birdied all five,” he said.
Clark was in such a zone that he didn’t flinch when a horn sounded during his backswing on the par-3 sixth. He put it 4 feet from the pin. The horn was the signal that play was being suspended, and that golfers had the option to finish the hole they were playing. Clark chose to wait, so he will have that putt – that could put him in a tie for the lead of the Masters – waiting for him when he wakes up. “It was getting a little darker, and it was harder to see the lines,” he said.
Of course, the whole field will be wary of Woods. He was typically steady – seven pars and two birdies, including a near-eagle from 102 yards on the par-4 third. For the second year in a row, he is close to the lead with 27 holes to play. “As long as he’s upright,” Mediate said, “he’s close.”
Last year, Woods resumed his third round Sunday in the fairway on No. 10, stormed past Chris DiMarco in minutes, fell back, then won in a playoff.
“Last year is last year. This is this year,” Woods said. “I’ve got to get in position to make birdies.”
America might be getting in position in front of TV sets.
Said Mark Hensby, who finished his third round: “The top five players in the world will be shooting it out. That’s what everyone wants to see. No doubt.”
But the contenders aren’t dismissing Campbell, who said he felt calm and added that he didn’t hit bad shots on his bogeys. His 8-foot par putt on No. 4 did lip out, which only makes today more interesting and daunting.
“I would say it’s more mental than physical,” he said. “It’s going to be tough walking around that many times, but when you’re in contention, you don’t really think about that. It’s not like we have to run.”