Masters of Disasters: Appleby is Leader at 2 Over; Woods (72) in Final Pairing

Apr 08, 08:31 AM

Current Headlines: By Randall Mell, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Apr. 8--AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Tiger Woods has mounted dramatic charges on Saturday at The Masters before, but never like this.

Never from a sofa.

Or wherever he was when all those leaders in front of him tumbled away in an epic third-round collapse in the bone-chilling winds blowing across Augusta National.

Frustrated after closing with a pair of bogeys, Woods was four shots off the lead and tied for eighth when he signed his scorecard.

Woods might have left the grounds, but he remained on the move, his name creeping up the leaderboard with every debacle visited upon all those poor souls fighting to survive in some of the most adverse scoring conditions The Masters has ever seen.

By the time play ended, two hours after Woods signed for his even-par 72, Woods was tied for second. He's only a shot off the lead going into today's final round.

The field didn't quite hand the championship to Woods, but they set the table for his run at winning a third consecutive major championship. Woods was gift-wrapped a spot in today's final pairing. He'll go off at 2:15 p.m. with the only player ahead of him, Australia's Stuart Appleby. That's important because The Masters champion has come from the final pairing in each of the past 16 years.

Appleby made three consecutive birdies early to seize the third-round lead, and despite some serious trouble coming home, his 1-over-par 73 was good for his first 54-hole lead in a major championship.

At 2-over-par 218, Appleby's score is the highest after three rounds in the 71-year history of The Masters.

The highest winning score in Masters history is 1-over 289, and that seems likely to be broken today. Sam Snead (1954) and Jack Burke Jr. (1956) hold the mark.

Appleby's out to make other history by trying to become the first Aussie to win The Masters.

England's Justin Rose (75) is tied with Woods for second in his bid to become the first European to win a major since Paul Lawrie won the British Open in 1999. Augusta's Vaughn Taylor (77), Ireland's Padraig Harrington (75) and Zach Johnson (76) are tied for fourth two shots back.

Defending champion Phil Mickelson (73) is four back.

The challenge for Appleby goes beyond beating Woods, who may already be the best who's ever played this game. It's beating a beastly course in punishing cold and wind. The 77.35 scoring average was the highest in the third round in 51 years.

Appleby has this going for him, though. Woods, 31, has never won a major coming from behind in the final round. All 12 of Woods' major championship triumphs were with the lead or a share of it. And though Appleby, 35, an eight-time PGA Tour winner, has never won a major, his record as a frontrunner is solid. He's won four of five times he's held a 54-hole lead.

With more chilly temperatures and fickle frigid winds expected today, Appleby was asked if conditions might help him in the head-to-head pairing with Woods.

"Well, he won't even know I'm there," Appleby said. "I'm sure I'll know he's there."

Appleby lives in Orlando and plays frequently at Isleworth with Woods, but he sees it as no advantage.

"What would you like me to say, that I cleaned him up all the time," Appleby said. "I'm great on the practice range? I can beat him? I can hit it past him? No, no and no.

"No, I've never had my way with him."

As daunting as a Sunday date with Woods can be, a date with Augusta National in these conditions is enough to keep Appleby's focus off his competitor.

With temperatures at 38 degrees when play began Saturday, and arctic-like winds gusting to 25 mph out of the northwest, birdies were hard to come by.

Retief Goosen's 70 was the only sub-par round of the day, and he was off early.

The setup and conditions were so challenging, neither of the second-round co-leaders could break 80. Brett Wetterich shot 83 and Clark 80.

"Tough as I've ever seen," Mickelson said.

Appleby lifted the spirits of all his fellow Aussies looking to end the nation's drought in The Masters when he birdied the second, third and fourth holes to take sole possession of the lead. He was the last player under par until walking to the 17th tee, where he hooked his drive so far left it ended up in the bunker alongside the seventh green. After slamming a 2-iron off the face of that steep bunker, lofting a shot over the trees into another bunker, and missing a 3-foot putt, he walked away with a triple bogey.

"The course is just really ready to slap you in the head if you make any mistake," Appleby said.

The pain and suffering isn't likely to end in a championship that looks like it will come down to the last man standing.

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