THE MASTERS : Langer (69) Looks Down on the Field : Golf: The 1985 winner finishes third round with a four-shot lead when challengers run into trouble.

Bernhard Langer had a very long but rewarding day at the Augusta National Golf Club on Saturday.

He got up at 5:45 a.m. in order to play the last two holes of his rain-suspended second round of the Masters tournament.

Then, it was on to the third round, where he took an early lead and improved on it while others were faltering.

When the round ended, Langer had a comfortable four-shot lead on a clear day when swirling winds made shot selection difficult.

The German player shot a three-under-par 69 for a 54-hole score of 207. Chip Beck and Dan Forsman, with a 72 and 73, respectively, are tied for second at 211.

Langer, 35, who won the Masters in 1985, is also remembered for missing a six-foot putt that that would have provided the European team with a tie in the 1991 Ryder Cup matches. A tie would have enabled the European team to retain the cup.

“I was very upset about that putt for a few days,” Langer said. “I was more upset for my team and captain. I wrestled with it for a few days, but you live in the future, not in the past.”

Langer had five birdies and two bogeys in his round, including a 60-foot chip for a birdie at the par-four 11th hole.

“I was thinking of Larry Mize at the time,” Langer said.

Mize holed a 140-foot chip shot to win the 1987 Masters.

Asked if there is pressure going into the final round with a four-stroke lead, Langer said: “I would rather have a four-shot lead than be two behind,” adding that he can play more conservatively and not take chances as he did when he won the Masters in 1985.

“I had to go for everything then,” he said of his come-from-behind victory.

Langer, who has an unorthodox putting style--his right hand gripping his left arm--has won 37 tournaments in his career. He said he was eager to get another major title under his belt.

Just when it seemed that Langer would be challenged, his pursuers self-destructed. Some examples:

--Forsman, with birdies and the 14th and 15th holes, went to eight under, two behind Langer. Then he double-bogeyed the par-three 16th and bogeyed the par-four 18th.

--Russ Cochran was only two strokes behind Langer through 13 holes. However, he dropped out of contention with a double bogey at the par-five 15th. He finished with a 73 and is at 212.

--Jeff Maggert, playing in his first Masters, was the second-round leader, one stroke ahead of Langer and Forsman.

He was seven-under through 11 holes--and three shots behind Langer--when he got a double bogey at the par-three 12th hole. Exit Maggert, who finished with a 75 and is five shots behind Langer.

--Raymond Floyd, who was two shots off the lead at the outset of the third round, never mounted a charge, shooting a 74.

--Fred Couples, the 1992 Masters champion, didn’t make a move. He shot a 74 and is at even par for the tournament.

As for England’s Nick Faldo, the Masters champion in 1989 and 1990, it was a forgettable day. He shot a 79 and is 19 shots behind Langer.

Said Forsman, who also had a double bogey at the par-three fourth hole: “Experience is so hard to come by here. I was just out of gas on 18. Bernhard will be tough to beat. Hopefully, I can eliminate the double bogeys and keep the birdies going.”

Beck said that he isn’t concerned that he is four shots behind Langer.

“Anything is possible,” he said “Whoever had momentum and gets off to a good start has a chance.”

Considering the capricious winds that were blowing in a different direction than normal, Langer’s round of 69 was remarkable.

“I would rank it among my five best-ever rounds,” he said.

Langer would have had a five-shot lead if he had been able to par the 18th hole.

However, he missed the green with his second shot, then chunked a chip shot and wound up with a bogey.

If Langer wins the Masters, it will be the seventh time a foreign player has won the event in 11 years.

Asked to account for foreigners’ success at Augusta National, Langer said:

“It has been asked many times and the only answer I can give to that is the fairways are probably wider here than some other courses, like the U.S. Open and PGA, and there isn’t much rough around the greens and you can play some different shots, like you can chip and run it.”

Langer said he was in a good frame of mind coming into the tournament.

“I finished sixth at Bay Hill (the Nestle Invitational) and second in the Players Championship, so I’ve played some good golf the last few weeks.”

Another round of good golf will ensure him of the Masters title unless someone comes out of the pack--and there was no evidence of that on Saturday.

Golf Notes

Bernhard Langer and Craig Stadler had the lowest scores on Saturday, 69s. Stadler is at 216. . . . The cut was at 147, three over par. Prominent players who didn’t make it included Tom Kite, Nick Price, Arnold Palmer, Ben Crenshaw, Paul Azinger and Steve Pate. Price, the PGA champion, who was among favorites to win the Masters, shot a nine-over-par 81 Friday and had a 36-hole score of 153. Price’s round included a quadruple bogey at the par-four 14th hole. It was the highest score ever recorded on that hole in the Masters. . . . Kite missed the cut at 151. Even though he was playing with his back in a brace, he didn’t use his injury as an excuse. “The only thing my back did was stop me from preparing for the golf tournament,” he said. “I can’t say it affected my golf. I had no touch.”

THE MASTERS COMMANDING LEAD: Bernhard Langer shot a three-under-par 69 at Augusta National and takes a four-stroke lead into the final round. C1 LEADERS Player: Score Bernhard Langer : 68-70-69--207 Chip Beck: 72-67-72--211 Dan Forsman: 69-69-73--211 Lanny Wadkins: 69-72-71--212 Steve Elkington: 71-70-71--212 Russ Cochran: 70-69-73--212 Jeff Maggert: 70-67-75--212 Fuzzy Zoeller: 75-67-71--213 Greg Norman: 74-68-71--213 Brad Faxon: 71-70-72--213 Ray Floyd: 68-71-74--213 Five tied at 214 OTHERS Player: Score John Daly: 70-71-73--214 Seve Ballesteros: 74-70-71--215 Fred Couples: 72-70-74--216 Jack Nicklaus: 67-75-76--218 Ian Woosnam: 71-74-73--218 Tom Watson: 71-75-73--219 Nick Faldo: 71-76-79--226