Immelman extends lead at Masters

Snedeker trails by two; Woods climbs into hunt

Tiger Woods, who shot a 4-under-par 68, tosses his putter into the air after missing a birdie attempt at the par-3 12th. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images)

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Early yesterday at Augusta National Golf Club, thunder and lightning led to an onslaught of rain.

But the thunder and lightning scripted by Tiger Woods at the close of his round later in the day? It put a dent in a theory about his reign.

Certainly, the third-round picture at the 72d Masters changed focus in dramatic fashion over the last two hours of a competition that had started amid breezy storm warnings and concluded in a calm dusk. Woods's electric 1-2 punch at the end - a 117-yard sand wedge that he nearly holed at the par-4 17th and his Houdini-like escape for a second straight day from the trees at the par-4 18th - put an exclamation point on a 4-under-par 68. It halted his stretch of 11 rounds without breaking 70 at Augusta National and the suspicion was that it would unleash whatever mystical spell his name prompts when it moves up the leaderboard.

At 5-under 211, Woods had cut his deficit to four. Let that news filter onto the back nine, the theorists must have said to themselves, and see what happens when the leader, Brandt Snedeker, catches a look.

And just like that, Snedeker at the par-4 11th made the first of three straight bogeys. Whispers surely whipped through the pine trees that can reach the clouds, and with his greatest weapon - intimidation - at work, Woods was viewed as the man to beat.

Until Trevor Immelman stepped forward and firmly established that he would be playing that role.

"I've got to believe in myself and hope for the best," said Immelman, who showed not a flicker of nerves at the sight of Woods's name on the leaderboard. With birdies at the par-5 13th, par-4 14th, and 18th, Immelman came home in 33, posted a 69, and settled in at 11-under 205, two ahead of Snedeker (70), while Steve Flesch (69 -208) and Paul Casey (69 -209) lurk further back, but ahead of the man, Woods, whose name hardly caused the tremors that it is alleged to be capable of.

Oh, and so far as that popular theory that implies they have removed the back-nine magic at this hallowed course, well, the matching 33s by Immelman and Woods seemed to do away with that, too. When Augusta National is presented as it was in Round 3 - soft greens, thanks to the rain, light wind, delectable hole locations - well, "anything can happen," said Woods. "You can shoot yourself right out of it and you can put yourself right back in it."

Woods did the latter, for after starting the day seven behind Immelman, he went to the turn in 35 and barely put a dent in the deficit. But a birdie at the par-4 10th ignited him, and with birdies at the 13th and 17th, coupled with that deft escape at the 18th, the feeling was he had served notice.

"He played a hell of a round," said Snedeker, who had seized the lead with a front-nine 34 to push to 9 under, leapfrogging Immelman, who had bogeyed the par-3 fourth to drop to 8 under. "His name is going to be on the leaderboard somewhere."

When it showed up, it was easy to assume it rattled Snedeker, as the 27-year-old playing in his first Masters as a professional promptly bogeyed the 11th. And the par-3 12th. And the par-5 13th, too. From one in front to three behind, he had been battered by Amen Corner, but he had not been beaten.

"You've just got to realize this is a long tournament," said Snedeker, and that sentiment seemed to have already been understood by Immelman. Quiet and unassuming, Immelman made rock-solid pars at 10, 11, and 12, then hit a brilliant third shot to a foot to set up a tap-in birdie at the 13th. He followed with a birdie at the 14th, then came a Masters moment that immediately produced memories of 1992 and the key point in Fred Couples's win.

"There's a massive difference, though," offered Immelman, referring to his third shot at the 15th, which hit the green and spun back, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, then trickling and trickling before it came to a breathless halt on the bank. "This is the 15th hole of the third round and his was the 12th of the final round."

Duly noted, but the break afforded Immelman the chance to get it up-and-down to save par, which he did, and when he came in a short time later to stuff his approach to 3 feet and birdie the 18th, he was in prime position to follow his hero, Gary Player, as the second South African to slip into a green jacket.

Of course, there are challengers lurking, most notably Snedeker, the Nashville native who somehow shook off the horrors of Amen Corner to birdie the 14th, 15th, and 18th and get back within two of the lead.

There was also the expected charge from a lefthander who played right ahead of Immelman - only it was Flesch and not Phil Mickelson. After going out in 34, Flesch got a share of the lead with a birdie at the 13th, dropped to 7 under with his only bogey, at the 14th, then converted a 4-foot birdie putt at the 18th to outshine his more heralded playing competitor, whose usual smile was nowhere to be found.

"Disappointing," said Mickelson, who shot 75 -214 and went from T-3 to T-7, from three back to nine back. "I didn't play very well and it was a day where there some low scores out there."

True enough, because the field average was the lowest of the tournament, 72.577, and 13 of the 45 players broke par, and seven went deeper than 70.

Mickelson wasn't part of the parade, though Flesch was and Casey was, too. The Englishman got within one of the lead with a blistering front-side 32, but an untidy back featured bogeys at the 11th, 15th, and 17th, so he settled in four shots off the lead.

Still, that's better than Woods's predicament, sitting six back. True, he's known for rewriting golf history, but this time he'll have to rewrite his own history. He has, after all, never come from behind to win a major, all 13 of his conquests - including four green jackets - having been as the 54-hole leader.

He hardly seems shaken by such details. "You want to win the Masters, period," he said. "It doesn't matter how you do it, as long as you do it."

No doubt, Immelman feels similarly.

Jim McCabe can be reached at jmccabe@globe.com.