ESPN.com - Golf Online - Masters 2000 - Love, Woods storm into contention

Associated Press
Sunday, April 9

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Tiger Woods and Davis Love III made their moves on the course. Then they ducked out of the powerful wind and watched just about everyone else move back to them on a wicked day at The Masters.


	David Duval's round finished on the 15th fairway.

When the third round was suspended as darkness fell over Augusta National, Vijay Singh was standing tall -- no small feat in gusts up to 42 mph.

With pine cones and limbs strewn all over the course, Singh managed to forge ahead with two birdies when the conditions were at their worst. He was at 7-under with four holes to play and had a three-stroke lead over David Duval when they trudged off the course shivering.

When they returned, Singh and Duval both parred their final four holes -- Singh hitting five-foot par putts at 15 and 16, plus a 20-footer to save par after hitting into a greenside bunker at 17.

Tom Lehman picked up a shot with a birdie at 17, while Phil Mickelson bogeyed the 16th and 18th but birdied No. 17. He's at 1-under, tied for fifth.

Jeff Sluman bogeyed his only two holes. Steve Jones, Bernhard Langer and Ernie Els all parred out.

"I've never seen a day like this before," Jack Nicklaus said Saturday after his worst score in 155 rounds at Augusta, an 81 that ended his faint dreams of a seventh green jacket. "This is by far the toughest."

The leaders were forced to play in wind that blew 30 mph, and gusted even stronger, with temperatures that dropped below 50.

"It's the coldest I've been in a long time, not even in the British Open," said Els, who was at 3 over. "We got a bad break playing when we did."

That wasn't the case for Woods and Love, who have a chance to pull off the greatest comeback in Masters history.

Despite a storm that stopped play for two hours and interrupted his run of four straight birdies, Woods fired back at the naysayers who thought he had no chance. He had a 4-under 68 and was at 215, primed to pounce in the final round.

"A lot of people said I'm out of it," Woods said with a broad smile. "I'm not out of it."

Neither is Love, who swears he will not be shaken by Woods' presence on the leaderboard this time around. He also had a 68 and was at 215.

"I came here to win," he said. "So did a lot of other guys. I want to win this one very badly."

Joining them was Mike Weir, who almost didn't make it to Augusta until his wife gave birth to their first child on Monday. He had the best round of the late finishers, a 2-under 70 under a constant, howling wind.

"My round today feels like a 65," Weir said. "I have as good a shot as anybody."

The largest 36-hole comeback was eight strokes by Jack Burke Jr. in 1956. Woods and Love started the third round nine strokes back, and made up ground quickly -- first on the course, then in the clubhouse.

"The whole idea today was to get to even-par, and lucky if I got to under par," Woods said.

The wind, so strong it caused a branch the size of a golf club to stick in the 18th fairway, took care of the rest. Only eight players remained under par, and all of them will have a chance in a final round expected to feature similar conditions.

Of course, that depends on Singh.

"Vijay was the only one who handled it," Els said.

Singh, the 1998 PGA Championship winner who has never finished better than 10th in The Masters, was 2-under for his round.

"I deal with the weather pretty good," said Singh, who is from Fiji in the South Pacific. "That was one of the coldest rounds I've played in a long time."

Loren Roberts, a short hitter taking advantage of course changes that put a premium on driving, finished off a 1-under 71 and was the clubhouse leader at 213.

Duval, the 36-hole leader, was hanging on for dear life.

He three-putted for bogey on the third hole and missed a 2-footer for birdie on the seventh. Then, disaster struck.

The wind shifted as his ball was in flight on the par-3 12th, and it came down short onto the slope and into the water for a double-bogey.

"I hit the same club as probably a lot of people," Duval said. "I just happened to catch a gust of wind that was not favorable for me, so it's my bad luck."

Duval fought back, with a birdie on the par-5 13th and then a brilliant chip to inches for par on the 14th. He was at 4-under, in the fairway on the 15th when he marked his ball.

"I feel like I've played 14 holes, and two shots on 15, and didn't hit a bad shot yet," Duval said. "Under the circumstances, I felt I played pretty well."

Duval wasn't the only one who suffered.

Els, the two-time U.S. Open champion, failed to make birdie on his 15 holes and was at 3-under. Phil Mickelson made five bogeys on the front nine and had to make a hard par off the pine straw on 15 to stay at 2-under.

Singh cruised along, seemingly oblivious to the troubles of everyone else.

After missing the 11th green to the left for bogey that dropped him into a share of the lead, Singh made a 6-foot birdie on the 12th. He then hit the shot of the day, a wedge that caught the slope and made a track for the hole, grazing the bottom of the cup.

Augusta National can have a mind of its own, and it seemed to shine favorably on Woods amid the rain and shifting winds.

The wind began to whip not long after Woods signed his card, and there were indications that 215 would be closer to the lead than he imagined.

"The flags were blowing so loud, it sounded like someone shooting a gun out there," Love said.

Woods fired a pretty loud shot of his own.

After saving a tough par on No. 4, he got it going with four straight birdies starting on No. 7, no putt longer than about 12 feet.

Then came the siren to suspend play.

"I wish I could have kept going," Woods said. "I had the rhythm of the round, the flow of my swing, a feeling in my body."

Still, he was right where he wanted to be -- in the clubhouse, a score posted and his name on the leaderboard for everyone to think about.


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