He may have taken the lead, but not everything fell for Tiger Woods on Saturday.
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A daily look at the happenings surrounding Tiger Woods at Augusta:
Woods didn't arrive at Augusta National until after noon, in preparation for his 2:10 p.m. ET tee time with Chris DiMarco. And he started slowly, with pars on the first six holes.
"I just tried to put the ball in play there, put it on the green and make a putt if I could," he said. "If I didn't, just two-putt and move on."
He finally picked up a birdie after a booming drive on the seventh hole left him just 49 yards to the green. He added another with a 30-foot putt on the 11th.
His only bogey came at the 12th, when he hit an 8-iron over the green and couldn't get up and down.
He grabbed the lead with birdies at Nos. 13, 14 and 15 -- his best stretch of the tournament. The longest putt was six feet.
"I didn't do anything great," said Woods. "I just plodded my way along. I missed a few fairways, got the ball on the green. ... That's basically how I played."
Woods has plenty of time to prepare on Sunday. He and Phil Mickelson don't tee off until 2:55 p.m. ET.
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Magic putters
Augusta National is supposed to be a putting contest. But the third-round leaderboard includes three of the oddest putting styles in the game, courtesy of Chris DiMarco, Mark Calcavecchia and Rocco Mediate.
"It just doesn't matter how," Mediate said Saturday. "It's just what makes you most comfortable."
Mediate was one of the first players on the PGA Tour to use a long putter, adopting it in 1990. Bernhard Langer and Scott McCarron, a winner last week outside Atlanta, also use the broom-handle club.
DiMarco and Calcavecchia both use a form of the claw, where the left hand grips the club normally and the right hand holds the club like a long putter. Some call DiMarco's the "Psycho Grip," though the former Florida star prefers the "Gator Grip."
"Between me and Chris and Rocco, we've got a couple of the funky grips and a long putter," said Calcavecchia. "It's interesting."
And it works. DiMarco is third in putts at this year's Masters with 81. Calcavecchia and Mediate are tied for fifth with 84.
"It helps me stay a little smoother on putts," DiMarco said. "It helps me stroke it a lot better."
Mediate said he took some grief inititally for using the long putter.
"I remember when everybody looked at Rocco like he was nuts," Calcavecchia said.
But Mediate refused to change.
DiMarco credits the claw with keeping him from quitting. Mediate says it saved is game. Calcavecchia quotes Mediate: "He says, 'I don't care what I look like. I just want the ball to go in."
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Doctor in the house: David Toms caught the stomach flu from his 3-year-old son Carter, reducing him to eating dry toast and bananas Friday night. Toms does have a doctor staying with his family, but he didn't do much good. "He's an anesthesiologist," Toms said. "He knows nothing about the stomach."
Big bucks: The winner will make $1,008,000 this year -- $180,000 more than a year ago. The top 15 players will all cash checks for more than $100,000 from a purse of $5.6 million.
Over par: Defending champion Vijay Singh shot 73, marking the first time in 38 rounds this year that he's been over par. He had been the only player on the PGA Tour without an over-par round this season.
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OVERHEARD
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WOODS
On whether he'd script a chance at a fourth straight major by beating the No. 2 player in the world: "(I'd rather be playing No.) 10. If you're going to dream, you might as well dream." |
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CALCAVECCHIA
On Woods: "Tiger is a human being just like the rest of us and he's going to be out there nervous, also. However, he is the best in the world and he has that going for him." |
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ELS
On his outlook for the final round: "He's Tiger and he's not going to back down. So he's obviously the danger man out there. But there's a lot of talent on that leaderboard." |
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MICKELSON
On why he values a green jacket so much: "History of the game is made here and I want to be a part of that. That's why this tournament means so much to me." |
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