THE MASTERS : Lead-Saving Putt Cheers Maltbie--Crenshaw, Too

Roger Maltbie, the hard-playing Californian, might have made the most significant putt of the Masters on the final hole of the third round Saturday, when he saved par with a five-footer. Not only did he breathe a sigh of relief, so did Ben Crenshaw.

While the putt enabled Maltbie to remain tied for the lead, it spared Crenshaw the humbling experience of having to play today’s final round at Augusta National Golf Club in a twosome with Greg Norman.

As the co-leaders at 212, four under par, Maltbie and Crenshaw have the honor of playing in the last twosome.

But if Maltbie had missed the putt on No. 18 and fallen out of the lead, Crenshaw probably would have been paired today with Norman. The Australian shot a six-under-par 66 Saturday and is one shot behind the leaders in a tie with Bernhard Langer of West Germany.

According to the Big Bang theory, no one can possibly look good when paired with Norman, who plays a different game from off the tee than anyone else. A few players can drive the ball as far as Norman, but none can drive it as far, as high and as straight, as often.

“I played with him the first day,” said Crenshaw, who shot a 75 that day but has rallied with a 70 and a 67. “When he hit it, the ground shook.

“Players like that can be intimidating just to watch.”

Langer, the man who has to play with Norman today, has a solution for that.

“I won’t watch him,” Langer said. “If he hits it 330 yards and I hit it 260, I’ve just got to find my ball and hit it.

“I can’t be in awe of him. It’s going to be a great finish to a great tournament. It will boil down to what it always boils down to, the last nine holes.

“There are so many players within five, six or seven shots that you can’t make anyone the favorite.”

The leader board displayed an international cast of stars. Within five shots of the lead were six players who have won major tournaments and four who have won the Masters.

Crenshaw won here in 1984, Langer in 1985. Norman won last year’s British Open.

Tied with Taiwan’s T.C. Chen, Curtis Strange and Larry Mize at 214 was Spain’s Seve Ballesteros, who won the Masters in 1980 and 1983 and the British Open in 1979 and 1984. Lanny Wadkins, who won the 1977 PGA Championship, was at 215. Tom Watson, who has won eight major tournaments, including the Masters twice, was at 217.

“The cream comes to the top,” Jack Nicklaus said. “There’s a lot of cream out there.”

As for Nicklaus, the defending champion, he is probably sunk.

You have to say probably because he came from four shots behind with four holes remaining to win last year. Starting today’s round, he was seven shots behind the leaders at 219 after a 73 Saturday.

“Think about what I might do with a 65,” said Nicklaus, who shot exactly that in last year’s final round.

If Nicklaus were a gambling man, however, he said he would bet on Norman.

“Somebody may be lower than Norman, but, realistically, he’s the one to shoot at,” Nicklaus said.

Nicklaus told a story from his practice round with Norman Tuesday to support his prediction.

“When we reached the 13th tee, I said, ‘Hey, Norman, when I was younger, I used to hit it over the trees.’ ”

The pine trees he referred to are 290 yards from the tee. When Nicklaus used to hit over them 25 years ago, they were half as tall as they are now. He wouldn’t even attempt it now that the trees are fully grown.

“Norman didn’t even flinch,” Nicklaus said. “He pulled the 3-wood from his bag, teed it up, picked out the highest tree and sailed the ball over it. It wasn’t so much that it was long, it was about 312 yards high. He had a 6-iron shot to the green.

“He is awesome.”

When Jack Nicklaus calls another player awesome, that is awesome. That’s like a Getty calling someone rich.

Norman’s longest tee shot Saturday was 312 yards. But he hit others that were in that neighborhood.

While his playing partner, Tom Kite, was hitting 6- and 7-irons on many of his approach shots to par-4 holes, Norman often was two clubs shorter, hitting more manageable 8-irons and pitching wedges to the greens.

That not only gives Norman a physical advantage, but a psychological one as well.

Players who consider Norman’s enormous drives a challenge to their manhood and try to equal his distance usually find themselves sliding down the leader board.

But Norman has had to overcome his own psychological barriers in this tournament.

When he didn’t win here last year, falling out of a tie for the lead when he bogeyed the final hole, he said he became obsessed with the Masters.

Playing under that kind of pressure, he shot 73 and 74 in the first two rounds and was six shots behind the second-round leader, Strange.

“That might have been a blessing in disguise for me,” Norman said. “When I was seven shots out, I said, ‘What the hell? You know you can play well on this golf course. I love this golf course. Just go out and enjoy it.’ ”

His wife, Laura, said Norman began relaxing Friday night, when he went to a party hosted by officials from the Australian Masters.

“He had such a good time seeing his mates again,” she said. “There were four lambs roasting on a spit and 1,500 bottles of Swan beer.”

Norman had six birdies Saturday and no bogeys. His 66 tied Maltbie’s Friday score as the tournament’s low rounds.

Crenshaw finished a short time later with a 67 that included four straight birdies on the back nine. He shot a five-under-par 31 on the final nine holes.

When he went to the clubhouse, he was still one shot behind Strange, who was five under through 13 holes. But Strange bogeyed the next three holes to fall two shots out of the lead.

Maltbie got to five under through 16 holes but bogeyed No. 17. He is distinctive on the course because of the Michelob visor he wears and the cigarettes he chain smokes.

Asked if he smokes so much because of the pressure, he said: “No, it’s because I like to smoke.”

Even though Maltbie hasn’t been in contention for a major championship before, he doesn’t appear intimidated by the company he’s keeping on the leader board.

“I play with these guys every week,” he said. “It’s not like this is the only time I see them every year. Let’s play.”