AUGUSTA – Watch out Chris DiMarco. Look out Augusta National. Brace yourself, golf world.
Order looks like it might be about to be restored.
Tiger Woods, 0-for-his-last-10 in major championships, is charging in a major again. All is right with the world of golf.
Woods, the true best player in the world regardless what the complicated world rankings say, is feeling it. He’s flexing to be fitted for his fourth Green Jacket, positioned to crush the competitive will of Chris DiMarco, the native of Huntington, L.I., who’s sleeping on yet another Masters lead.
DiMarco, the 54-hole leader in the 2004 Masters that Phil Mickelson defined his career with when he overcame a deficit to capture his first major title, is 27 holes away from victory, standing at an impressive 13-under-par with a four-shot lead entering today’s play.
All credit to DiMarco, who’s led in five of the 15 Masters rounds he’s played in and seems en route to a sixth when the completion of yesterday’s darkness-suspended third round finishes sometime around 11 a.m. today.
But Woods is lurking, just four shots back at 9-under-par and a confidence level that seems to be rising with every swing, every putt. Most importantly, after a snake-bitten first round of 2-over-par, Woods was 11-under-par yesterday.
A great story in his own, Thomas Bjorn from Denmark, is five shots back of the lead at 8-under-par.
Still not out of reach are Mark Hensby and Rodney Pampling, both of whom are 4-under. Chad Campbell, Luke Donald, Tim Herron, Trevor Immelman and defending-champion Phil Mickelson are all still in the mix at 3-under.
Because of the previous two days of rain delays, third-round play was suspended at 7:35 last night with the leaders still with nine holes to play before getting to their final round. Forty-four players remain in the course. The third round will resume at 8 a.m. today with the final round scheduled top begin at about 11 a.m.
All eyes will be on Woods, whose charge yesterday served notice, though in his eight major titles, including the three Masters he’s won, Woods has never won without having at least a share of the third-round lead.
“I’ve got to set myself up,” Woods said. “We’ve got a long way to go. We’ve to 27 holes to go. It’s going to be a long, patient day. I’ve got to continue being patient and plod my way along.”
About his day yesterday, Woods said he “kept hitting quality golf shots and all of a sudden the momentum started to build.”
He got a great break on his final hole before the bell sounded to suspend play when his drive on No. 10 landed hard in the rain-soaked fairway and had a chunk of mud on it. Woods, because the call had already come to suspend play, didn’t have to play the approach shot, instead marking it for a clean drop this morning.
Bjorn, who’s had his share of battles with Woods, is one player who’s got a close eye on Woods’ charge.
“That was an impressive front nine, particularly when you’re six shorts off the lead and you’ve got to produce,” Bjorn said of Woods’ 31 on the front side of his third round. “Tiger is Tiger and when he gets on those kinds of runs we never know what’s going to happen. It’s great for the game that he’s playing the kind of golf he’s playing.”
Everyone, of course, except DiMarco.
“I’m going to go out and have fun,” DiMarco said. “I’ve got a lot of great players behind me, so I’m going to have to keep my foot on the accelerator. It’s up to me. I have to go out, control myself, stay focused and control my nerves, just try to do what I’ve been doing.”
Leaderboard
How they stood yesterday at Augusta National before the third round was suspended:
To par Hole
Chris DiMarco -13 9
Tiger Woods -9 9
Thomas Bjorn -8 9
Rod Pampling -4 12
Vijay Singh -4 10
Mark Hensby -4 9
Notables
Mike Weir -3 15
Phil Mickelson -3 11
Jim Furyk -1 11
Retief Goosen E F
Ernie Els 6 10
Augusta weather forecast
Today
76 degrees
Sunny
Live TV schedule
2:30-7 p.m., CBS
