Wind burns field
Appleby, Woods together for final endurance test
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Pick an adjective. Make it active and descriptive. You still might not do justice to what the weather and course conditions at Augusta National Golf Club did to the field in the 71st Masters Tournament on Black Saturday.
On a harrowing day when the temperature barely made it into the 50s and a northwesterly wind howled at 23 mph, no one escaped the course's clutches, not even leader Stuart Appleby of Australia.
Appleby, whose record in the Masters is less than sterling, survived a triple bogey on the 17th hole to shoot 1-over-par 73 and take a one-shot lead into today's final round.
One of the players tied for second place is Tiger Woods, the four-time winner here who is seeking his third consecutive major championship. Woods shot 72, which included bogeys on his final two holes for the second time this week.
Joining Woods in second is England's Justin Rose, who had 75.
Augusta-area resident Vaughn Taylor (77 with bogeys on his final three holes), Ireland's Padraig Harrington (75) and Zach Johnson (76) are tied for fourth place, two shots back.
Never have over-par rounds by contenders sounded so good. The third-round scoring average was 77.350 , the third highest in tournament history and the fifth highest for any round.
There was one sub-par round Saturday - a 70 by Retief Goosen, which moved the South African from a tie for 46th place after 36 holes into a tie for eighth, four shots off the lead.
And Appleby's 54-hole total of 2-over 218 is the highest for a third-round leader in tournament history, breaking the record by two shots.
"It was a tough day; I don't think we've seen scores anything like this at Augusta for a long time," Appleby said.
Appleby's best finish in 10 starts at Augusta National is a tie for 19th last year. Counting his 75-70 start in the first two rounds, 21 of his 33 rounds have been over par. He has missed the cut five times.
The 35-year-old Appleby, an eight-time winner on the PGA Tour and the 19th ranked player in the world, is trying to do something no Australian has pulled off: win the Masters.
"There's a lot of work left," he said. "There's 18 holes, but to be honest, it's way more than that."
And they will be played alongside Woods, the world's No. 1 player and a 12-time major champion.
"He won't even know I'm there," Appleby said.
Even Woods hasn't been able to handle Augusta National this year. He has yet to break par - his rounds have been 73-74-72 - which is only the second time in tournament history that he has gone three consecutive rounds without an under-par score.
If Woods does win today, it will be the first time he came from behind after 54 holes to win a major.
Appleby often plays practice rounds with Woods. The Aussie was asked how he has fared against his Florida neighbor.
"What would you like me to say, that I cleaned him up all the time, I'm great on the practice range? I can beat him? I can hit it past him? No, no and no," he said.
When Woods finished his round, he was four shots off the lead and tied for eighth place. Once the course had its way with those behind him, he found himself in today's final pairing with Appleby, which is historically a great place to be. The past 16 winners have come out of the final group. The last one who didn't was Nick Faldo in 1990.
After a frantic final hour of missed short putts and water balls, the damage was done and no one left in the field was in red, under-par figures.
At least the field won't have to come back and complete the third round this morning before starting the final round, as they did the previous two years. Plus, the weather conditions aren't expected to be quite as difficult today.
Even Masters rookie Brett Wetterich, whose conservative game plan worked for two rounds, was blown away by the conditions. Wetterich, who shared the first- and second round leads after trips of 69 and 73, shot 83, which dropped him back to a tie for 23rd place, seven shots off the lead.
Second round co-leader Tim Clark didn't do much better. He had 80 and is four shots off the lead.
The absence of rain and the abundance of wind has kept the greens firm and fast, even as the club put water on them before the round.
"It was like trying to land a golf ball on your driveway, but your driveway has mounds on them and they stick the pins near the mounds," said Rich Beem, who managed to shoot 75.
"The wind gusted to the point where you were worried about moving on the greens," said David Toms, who had 74.
None of the leaders thought the course was unfair, just tough. Harrington even enjoyed the round.
"No matter what was happening, I was enjoying the idea and the condition and the questions that were being asked out there," he said.
This week's conditions have made the 10th anniversary of Woods' tournament record 270 seem like more than a decade ago.
Early in the week, the talk was if the winner would make it to double digits under par. Now it's if the winner can finish under par. The only years the winner finished over par were 1954 and 1956, at 1-over 289.
As difficult as the conditions were Saturday, Goosen said they could have been tougher.
"They had pins out there they've never had before; if they put them where they normally put them, it would have been impossible," he said. "They kind of eased off on the pin placements because of the conditions. They were quite generous. I'm sure they will be tougher tomorrow."
Reach David Westin at (706) 823-3224 or david.westin@augustachronicle.com.
BRETT WETTERICH
Where he started: -2 (T-1)
Where he finished: 9 (T-23)
Where it went wrong: The co-leader for the first two rounds triple-bogeyed No. 3 en route to 11-over-par 83 in the third round.
TIM CLARK
Where he started: -2 (T-1)
Where he finished: 6 (T-8)
Where it went wrong: The second-round co-leader made eight bogeys, including four in the first five holes, for 8-over-par 80.
STUART APPLEBY
Where he started: 1 (T-8)
Where he finished: 2 (1)
Where it went wrong: The Aussie hooked his tee shot on the 17th hole, leading to a triple bogey that cut into his 54-hole lead.
TIGER WOODS
Where he started: 3 (T-15)
Where he finished: 3 (T-2)
Where it went wrong: The four-time Masters winner could have held the outright lead had he not made bogey on the final two holes.
VAUGHN TAYLOR
Where he started: -1 (3)
Where he finished: 4 (T-4)
Where it went wrong: After making birdie on the 15th to take the outright lead, the Augusta-area resident limped home with bogeys on the final three holes.
