More Brrrrs Than Birdies as Singh Leads

Augusta National did everything it could to become Pebble Beach South on Saturday. There was a two-hour rain delay, eight golfers were still being whipped by grab-your-parka winds on the course when darkness halted play, and Tiger Woods uncorked his version of the West Coast offense.

Woods finally found his putting stroke and shot a four-under-par 68 to get to one under and stick himself right in the thick of things in the 64th Masters. He trails Vijay Singh by six shots, but Singh, at seven under through 14 holes, was one of the eight players who will have to return this morning to complete the third round.

Second-round leader David Duval is at four under, Loren Roberts and Ernie Els a shot behind that and Phil Mickelson is at two under.

Of those, only Roberts, who shot a 71, completed his round. Third-round play will resume at 8:15 a.m. local time, with the fourth round scheduled to start just after 10.

It’s a quality leaderboard. The nine players at even par or better have 95 tour victories among them, including nine majors.

The last time the third round of the Masters had to be completed on Sunday was in 1992, when three twosomes failed to complete their rounds.

Like Woods, Davis Love III shot his way into contention with a 68 and is tied with Woods and Mike Weir, who shot a 70, at one under.

At Pebble Beach in February, perhaps the PGA Tour’s most rain-plagued tournament, Woods overcame a seven-shot deficit on the last day to defeat Matt Gogel.

Of course, this isn’t the AT&T; National Pro-Am and there aren’t a lot of Matt Gogels here this week. But conditions were so severe late in the day, any golfer with a late tee time--that means the second-round leaders--was going to have a difficult time not being blown off the leaderboard.

The temperature dropped into the low 50s, the wind blew steadily at 20 mph with gusts to 42 and birdies became as rare as spectators in short sleeves.

“It was really tough,” said Els, who dropped two shots after beginning the day five under. “It was cold, the wind was brutal, it was tough to focus, and it got worse as the day went on. . . . This is the coldest I’ve been in a while.”

Play was halted because of an approaching storm at about 12:20 p.m. At that point, 19 groups were on the course and 10 had yet to tee off. Play resumed about 2:30, which meant tee times were pushed back more than two hours. By that time, the temperature had dropped significantly and the wind gradually began increasing.

Woods was standing on the 11th fairway at the time of the delay, having birdied Nos. 7, 8, 9 and 10 to get to even par. When play resumed, he birdied 13 and 15 before a bogey on 17 after an unlucky bounce on his approach shot stalled the charge a bit.

“I watched a little TV last night, and a lot of the people were saying I was completely out of it,” Woods said.

“I didn’t appreciate it very much, that’s for sure. . . . I’m not out of it.”

Woods’ round--his first at Augusta in the 60s in 10 rounds, since he won in 1997--could have been even better had he managed to make any of four other makable birdie putts on the front nine. He had good chances at Nos. 1, 2 5 and 6 but missed each one.

“I hit beautiful putts, though,” Woods said. “But to go around those first few holes and not make a putt, I was one over par, I wasn’t very happy.”

Singh is perfectly happy with his putting. He got through his 14 holes Saturday without a three-putt.

“I had a lot of birdie opportunities, hit a lot of really good iron shots,” he said, adding that the conditions created a four- or five-shot difference between the morning and afternoon.

“I was freezing out there,” Singh said.

Anyone who was going to pick up ground Saturday, traditionally called moving day, had to do it early. Those who started late moved backward. Of the 23 players who began the day at even par or better, 21 lost ground. Singh, who moved from five under to seven under, and Roberts, who moved from two under to three under, were the exceptions.

By shooting their 68s early, Woods and Love moved from 39th place at the start of the day, to a tie for 10th when they completed their rounds, to a tie for sixth by the time the leaders finished backing up.

“I got the best of it today,” Love said after his round, while some players were just getting started. “I would say the guys that got those late tee times today didn’t. . . .

“I’m not going to feel sorry for them. In the course of playing major championships, sometimes you get funny draws and it doesn’t work out quite right. These guys playing right now are not real happy about their situation, and I don’t blame them. But that’s the way it goes.”

Even though Duval lost ground, he said he played exceptionally well. He had one bogey and one birdie, but a double-bogey five amid the swirling winds at the par-three 12th was the big blow.

“It was very, very nasty and difficult and I think the scores from the afternoon reflect that,” Duval said, adding that he hit what he thought was a perfect eight-iron on No. 12 that a gust of wind plunked into the drink.

“I really wish that hadn’t happened on 12 because I feel I’ve played 14 holes and two shots on 15 and haven’t really hit a bad shot. With the exception of a bad break on 12, I’d be even par.”

Weir, a left-hander, plays a low ball that usually isn’t suited to Augusta National, but Saturday it was perfect for staying below the tree line. He was very happy with his round of 70, which moved him from one over to one under.

“My round today feels like a 65,” he said.

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MASTERS

LEADERS

Vijay Singh: -7*

David Duval: -4*

Loren Roberts: -3

Ernie Els: -3*

Phil Mickelson: -2*

Tiger Woods: -1

Davis Love III: -1

Mike Weir: -1

Nick Price: E

ALSO

Sergio Garcia: +1

Tom Lehman: +1*

Fred Couples: +2

Greg Norman: +2

Nick Faldo: +2

Colin Montgomerie: +6

Jack Nicklaus: +9

* Failed to complete round