Tiger Woods saw his doctors in Utah on Wednesday for a two-week checkup on his surgically-repaired left knee.

"It went great," said Woods, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on April 15. "Everything is right on schedule."

Woods, 32, said he's ready to begin his rehabilitation, but he isn't sure when he will return to competition. Ideally, he would like to play in a tournament before the U.S. Open, June 12-15 at Torrey Pines Golf Course near San Diego, possibly two weeks earlier at the Memorial Tournament.

"The doctors said I should be able to play in 4 to 6 weeks after the surgery, but there are no guarantees about anything right now," said Woods. "I'm just going to work hard and do what they tell me to do."

Initially, Woods used crutches and wore a knee brace. The crutches are gone now, and he attended Game 5 of the Orlando Magic's Eastern Conference quarterfinals series against the Toronto Raptors on Monday night.

Despite a strong start this season--three wins, a second at the Masters and a fifth at Doral to lead the PGA Tour's money list by almost $2 million over No. 2 Phil Mickelson--Woods has been playing in pain and knew surgery was necessary.

"The knee has been bugging me for a while," he said. "The only decision was: do you miss the Masters or play in the Masters? I decided to play. Even if I had won, I still would have had the surgery."

--Mark Soltau

The USGA received 8,390 entries for the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, Calif., with the applicants ranging in age from 12 (Rico Hoey, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) to 79 (Harris Moore Jr., Los Angeles).

Tiger Woods is among eight past champions fully exempt for the championship June 12-15. Woods, the 2000 and 2002 winner, is exempt in eight different categories, the most of any of the 58 golfers currently exempt.

Entries were received from golfers in all 50 states and 68 foreign countries, including professionals from Ghana, Nigeria and Guatemala.

Local qualifying begins May 5 at 111 sites.

--Bill Fields

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Playing 36 holes with a tour pro is an education you don't quite get watching on television or walking in the gallery. You can hear the sound of the shots and feel the tempo, especially when someone has as fluid a swing as Jerry Pate, our pro Thursday in the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf pro-am.

Pate hadn't played a full round in a few weeks because of minor shoulder and knee injuries--he was wearing a neoprene brace on his left knee--but hit some beautiful shots. None was better than his final full shot of the day. On our group's final hole, the par-3 third, Pate's 3-wood from 227 yards into the wind faded about five yards just as he diagrammed it and finished four feet short of the hole.

He made the the birdie with a putter that is older than a lot of players on the PGA Tour, a Wilson Arnold Palmer blade he got in 1971 when he was a freshman at Alabama.

"I haven't used this putter in years," he said. "I won the [1974] U.S. Amateur with it. I won the [1982] TPC with it. I haven't used it on the Champions Tour, but at times I get a little too mechanical with a center-shafted, Ping-type putter. I like a heel-shafted putter at times where I can swing the toe a little
bit."

We had another 60 Thursday, for a two-day best-ball net total of 120, which beat 11 teams but was a whopping 14 strokes behind the pro-am winners (Shapiro, Shapiro, Green and Guernsey) who followed up their 51 with a 55.

Pate will be paired with his old Southeastern Conference rival Andy Bean in the tournament proper starting Friday. The Club at Savannah Harbor will be cleared of the amateur flotsam. I go back to work with a few swing thoughts from Pate and a reinforcement that the game they play and the one most of the rest of us play are different beasts.

--Bill Fields

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Nerves, rust and a good old-fashioned talent deficit were a potent cocktail at 7:30 Wednesday morning. The first day of the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf pro-am began with a shotgun start, but I had a water pistol that wouldn't shoot straight.

I had gotten up early and eaten oatmeal for breakfast, worked my way through the bag on the range and left the practice green bursting with confidence having made two six-footers in a row.

Two holes in, I was wondering if I eventually was going to have to poach a couple of golf balls from our pro, Lonnie Nielsen.

Fortunately I found a temporary tourniquet for the mess I was making. At least on occasion, my swing tempo slowed to something approaching the legal limit. I two-putted from 100 feet on the 12th hole. I chipped nicely. I stayed out of everybody's through-line.

Besides, it was a team game and I had some good partners. I thought Leo Story, a 2-handicap local banker, had taken a wrong turn on the way to a long-drive contest, so formidable were many of his tee shots. After one of my better drives, Leo's ball was still a Ray Guy punt beyond mine. At 71, Jim Smith, a fixture in Savannah golf circles, was amazing. Just two weeks ago he had gotten dizzy on the course and gone to his doctor, who discovered a blocked heart artery. He had a stent put in. All Jim did Wednesday was shoot a neat 76, making 4-for-3 on the par-5 fourth hole to well-deserved applause from a few friends who followed us around. Kim Iocovozzi, a Savannah art dealer and tournament volunteer vice-chairman, struggled a bit on the greens but hung in there and had his moments.

Thanks to those guys and a couple of early birdies by Nielsen, we were eight under through our first nine holes before cooling down. Our 12-under best-ball net 60 beat a few of the 48 teams, but we can barely see the leaders (R.W. Eaks' team of Fred Shapiro, Bruce Shapiro, James Green and Kevin Guernsey), who carded a 51.

Tough crowd.

-- Bill Fields

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Flying down to the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, the smart play for a golfer of questionable ability with a long winter behind him and two days of pro-am golf ahead of him would have been to read Hogan or Snead, Harmon or Haney--to hope immersion in the fine points of the game would smooth all the rough edges.

I opted for the entertaining choice, the late George Plimpton's 1968 classic The Bogey Man, the account of his travails in three PGA Tour pro-ams back when woods were wood and the Crosby was the Crosby. Plimpton was an 18-handicap with a golf club but scratch with a typewriter. Better to laugh a little bit, I thought, than risk catching one swing thought too many.

When I got on the ground in coastal Georgia, I could have searched for a large bucket of practice balls, but sought to gather a couple of stories instead. One of the first people I ran into at The Club at Savannah Harbor was John Buchna, who has caddied for Joey Sindelar for 25 years. That's a lot of pro-ams, a lot of nervous amateurs, a lot of shots you don't usually see on Sunday afternoons.

"I've seen them hit scoreboards," Buchna said. "I've seen them hit cars out in the middle of a lake. I've seen them hit shots that end up behind them. If you top a ball just right,  the spin moves it in the wrong direction."

I would love to hit a few fairways, make a few pars, avoid having a to swipe at a ball lodged head-high in a tree, as Plimpton did.

If you cover golf, you don't pay much attention to pro-ams until you find yourself playing in one. In reporting on the Champions Tour since 2001, I've had the chance to play several informal rounds with senior pros. David Eger, Mark McNulty and Graham Marsh kindly put up with me during a round at Del Monte GC prior to The First Tee Open a couple of years ago.

Another year at that event, I got to play Pebble Beach with Peter Jacobsen and his junior partner in a practice round. Dana Quigley, Jim Thorpe and Jack Fleck were amiable partners in outings. My only sour experience was one round with an old pro who spoke as few words over 18 holes as I hit good shots, which was to say not many at all.

That won't be an issue over the next two days. Lonnie Nielsen is our pro today, followed by Jerry Pate on Thursday afternoon. I just hope Nielsen doesn't remember my leaving him out of a preseason top-30 ranking a few years ago (as one of his fans let me know). And I hope Pate doesn't recall the drive I pushed halfway to the Statue of Liberty as he played along for a hole or two during a round at Liberty National two years ago.

But as John Jacobs told me Tuesday, the pros don't care what the amateurs shoot. There isn't a bad shot they haven't seen. There was the fellow who was so nervous on the first tee in Tampa a couple of years ago that he couldn't get his ball to rest on a tee. "I teed up his ball for three of the first six holes," Jacobs said, "but he played pretty well after that."

Hope was high at the pro-am draw party Tuesday evening. "Have some fun, make some birdies," master of ceremonies Andy North told the audience.

The first command was within reach. And so were the shrimp.

--Bill Fields

Tiger must be successfully on the mend. He was spotted at Tiger Jam last night on crutches. Woods is expected to remain on crutches for about a week. He expects to return to putting practice next week, chipping the week after.

--Mark Soltau

Tiger Woods is progressing well after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Tuesday. So well that he hasn't needed crutches; is expected to practice putting before the end of the week; and is hosting Tiger Jam XI on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Resort Events Center in Las Vegas, where rock legends Van Halen will perform.

"The knee is coming along very well," Woods said Friday. "I've been through this before and understand the rehabilitation process. I'm just taking it slow and steady."

Woods, coming off a second-place finish at the Masters, hopes to start chipping next week, then will progress to short wedge shots. If all goes well, he could return to competition on the PGA Tour in about six weeks. The Memorial Tournament, where Woods has won three times and missed only once (2006) in his 11 full seasons as a professional, begins May 29. The U.S. Open at Torrey Pines begins two weeks after that, on June 12.

"We'll just see how it goes," he said.

Woods has seen Van Halen in concert twice this year and is looking forward to a fun evening. Last year, a huge crowd came to watch Bon Jovi. The event, coupled with live and silent auctions, raised $1 million for the Tiger Woods Foundation and Las Vegas charities.

--Mark Soltau

Tiger Woods underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Tuesday, it was announced on his website. It was the third operation the 32-year-old Woods has undergone on the knee.

The procedure was performed by Dr. Thomas D. Rosenberg at the Healthsouth Surgical Center in Park City, Utah. He previously performed a one-hour surgery in Dec. of 2002 to remove fluid inside and outside the anterior cruciate ligament, and removed benign cysts. In 1994, Woods had a benign tumor removed.

"I made the decision to deal with the pain and schedule surgery after the Masters," said Woods, who finished second in the tournament last Sunday. "The upside is that I have been through the process before and know how to handle it. I looked forward to working through this rehabilitation process and getting back to action as quickly as I can."

The typical healing process is 4-6 weeks. Woods, who will not need crutches, could return to competition at The PLAYERS Championship, May 8-11. A more conservative estimate would be the Memorial Tournament, May 29 through June 1.

"Tiger has been experiencing pain in his knee since the middle of last year, and when he had it looked at by his doctors, arthroscopic surgery was recommended," said Mark Steinberg, his agent. "Cartilage damage was found during the procedure, which Dr. Rosenberg was able to correct. Tiger has played through pain in the past, but knew it would be better for him to have the procedure done as early as possible."

Woods was released from Healthsouth Surgical Center on Tuesday. He is scheduled to host Tiger Jam XI in Las Vegas on Friday and Saturday at the Mandalay Resort. Proceeds benefit the Tiger Woods Foundation and select Las Vegas charities.

--Mark Soltau

Post-round interviews have a tendency to get mechanical, mostly number-speak of yardages and club selection. Every now and then a few gems surface from the mentally exhausted players. Here are a few from player interviews at the Masters this past week.

Boo Weekley, asked how he spent his time during the rain delay, answers "Nothing, just sat over there on No. 6 or right behind No. 5 green there. They've got a bathroom there, and we sat right there and went and got some crackers and some water." The reporter follows up, "Did you guys talk about anything?" Weekley says, "No, I sat out in the rain with an umbrella."

Zach Johnson, after his Saturday round, was asked to comment about "you know who" making his seemingly inevitable move up the leader board. At the time, Tiger Woods was on the course and on his way to a 68. Johnson replies, "Romero?"

A reporter says to Brandt Snedeker, "You told us you play fast, your tempo is fast, you speak quickly. Do you do anything slowly?" Snedeker says, "I probably think slowly. I'm not the fastest thinker in the world. That would probably be the only thing. I can't think of anything that I really do slowly."

The blooper here is on the reporter. The question to Raymond Floyd is, "When you play with a kid like Drew Weaver, an amateur here for the first time, do you kind of give him advice, do you talk to him or does he ask for that?" Raymond Floyd answers, curtly, "No. You're playing golf, you can't give advice. He and his caddie are the only people that can do that. It breaks the rules if you say anything."

Trevor Immelman, asked if he just pulls up his shirt to show the scar from the operation to remove a tumor from his diaphragm. "Yeah, for sure. Public indecency."

--Max Adler

Golf Digest's Jaime Diaz has been covering golf since 1984. We asked him for his take on the 72nd Masters.

How could Trevor Immelman win the Masters?
Jaime Diaz: I read where the oddsmakers pre-tournament had Immelman at 60 to 1 to win. I’d say there were probably 25 guys in the field I would have picked before Immelman, mostly because he has never shown the kind of putting touch that is thought to be required at Augusta. Immelman putted solidly this week, but mostly he won by being the best driver and iron player in the field and not missing too many six-footers. It was a virtuoso ball-striking performance by the young man Gary Player says has the closest thing to Ben Hogan’s swing that he has ever seen.

Does this end talk of a Grand Slam in 2008?
Although Immelman won the U.S. Public Links at Torrey Pines and he proved he can win a major at the Masters, Slam talk is dead, and should be. Now, if Immelman wins at Torrey Pines, that’s different.

Zach Johnson and Trevor Immelman have won the past two Masters. Is that good or bad for golf?
Every winner brings their own attractive qualities to golf history, so in my opinion, they are all good for golf. In Johnson’s case, it was inspiring to see a player whose stature and style seemed to make it impossible to win at the new, bulked-up Augusta. Instead, he showed how superb wedge play, clutch putting and poise can be the great equalizer on any course. Immelman’s victory showcases one of the great swings the modern game has ever seen, and unleashes the kind of potential that can make him an important challenger to Tiger. Though a Tiger victory in a major is always good for golf because of the attention it garners and the history it makes, the game also needs the most talented young players  to mentally break through so they are comfortable at the very top rank in the Tiger Era. Immelman is one of those players.

That makes three consecutive Masters that Tiger hasn't won. Why can't he win here anymore?
It’s a facetious question, but the fact is that the new Augusta allows more styles to be competitive than the old Augusta, where power was a bigger advantage. Tiger will remain the prohibitive Masters favorite, but his game will have to be at least at a B-plus level for him to win. This year, his A-minus ball-striking was undermined by C-minus putting and wedge play. The point is, as good as he is, the new Augusta, more than the old one, requires that he play well by his own standard to win.

John Hawkins has been covering the PGA Tour for Golf World and Golf Digest magazines since 1996. We asked him for his take on the 72nd Masters.

How could Trevor Immelman win the Masters?
John Hawkins: Because this tournament has changed dramatically in just the last few years. The Masters has become a control player's golf tournament. There are power tournaments and there are control tournaments, and it's not very often that the character of a tournament shifts as much as this one has. The combination of the length, the rough they've added, the firmness of these greens . . . It's not a power player's course anymore.

Where was Trevor Immelman on your list of potential winners before the week began?
Never crossed my mind. My next-door neighbor was looking for a sleeper pick, but there was absolutely no reason to think Trevor Immelman had a shot here. OK, he tied for fifth here in '05, the year he made the hole-in-one at 16 on Sunday. But Trevor Immelman hadn't done anything lately, and he had never contended in a major.

Does this officially end talk of a Grand Slam in 2008?
It has to. This guy isn't going to win all four. Listen, it was a long shot to begin with. Tiger's bad golf is a lot better than most people's good, and that impresses me more than anything. I still can't believe he finished second here. They tried to give it to him, but he wasn't good enough this week to take it. That happens sometimes.

Zach Johnson and Trevor Immelman have won the past two Masters. Is that good or bad for golf?
I think it's good, overall. It's easy to get caught up in how good a guy plays and how popular he is, but it's good for other guys to win once in a while. Both Zach and Immelman are great people, fairly new fathers, good guys. Trevor Immelman was a great player before today, but he wasn't even in the second tier until now.

That makes three consecutive Masters that Tiger hasn't won. Why can't he win here anymore?
The changes here have actually hurt him. Woods can win anywhere anytime, but he can't win when he putts poorly. He hardly made anything all week. Didn't even hit the hole from four or five feet on 13 today, then he three-putted 14. Don't worry: Tiger is only halfway to his green jacket collection. He'll win four more before he's done.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- When Tiger Woods holed about a 50-foot birdie putt on the 11th hole Sunday, pulling within five of Trevor Immelman, for me it felt a bit like it did a couple of weeks ago when North Carolina, my alma mater, had cut a 28-point deficit to Kansas in the Final Four to four points. There was simply too much ground to make up, and it had been too much of a struggle just to get to that point. Kansas reasserted itself and won going away over the Tar Heels, just as Immelman did over Woods and the rest of the pack at a testy, breezy Augusta National GC.

Other than Woods, nobody in his 20s had won the Masters since Jose Maria Olazabal in 1994. It was time for another young player to claim a green jacket, and Immelman, withstanding a couple of very shaky moments late, was up to the task. Despite a cacophony of Grand Slam talk about Woods, his ultimate golf dream was wilted by four frustrating days, particularly with the putter. Woods putts so well so often that when he looks human on the greens, as he did on several failures inside eight feet Sunday, it's a shock.

It's also golf. Woods' long-term lease on success is so formidable that a bad day can reinforce how much of a thick-steel lock he often is when he is in contention.

Woods' 2008 Grand Slam hopes have been extinguished, but you can bet he will show up at Torrey Pines ready to roll in the U.S. Open. For the moment, all credit should go to Immelman, who has come back from some health issues and was resilient when he had to be. In the mold of his countryman-idol Gary Player, Immelman is a scrapper, perhaps ready to be to Woods what Player was to Jack Nicklaus. Sunday was a giant step on what could be a great journey.

--Bill Fields

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Tiger Woods had just come up short in the 72nd Masters and was waiting to be interviewed by Bill Macatee of CBS. It had been a long, frustrating tournament for the four-time champion, who fought a balky putter all week.

Inside, the world's top golfer was crushed. But he didn't let it show.

"Hello? Hello? Hello? Can you hear me, Lance?" Macatee said into the microphone to producer Lance Barrow, waiting for the signal to begin the interview.

"First time?" cracked Woods.

Laughter all around. A much-needed light moment after 72 holes of grinding and heartbreak.

Woods, 32, has won 13 professional majors, and he hates finishing second. He often calls it, "First loser."

For the record, Woods has finished second in five majors, including three of the last five and four of the last 11. He likely had a long talk with his putter Sunday night on the flight home to Florida.

Tee to green,Woods gave himself every opportunity to win a fifth green jacket. He just never felt comfortable with his putting stroke. His speed was good; his alignment wasn't.

"I hit the ball well enough to win this golf tournament," said Woods. "I just did not make enough putts."

Make no mistake, he tried everything. Woods even hooked his putts.

"On these greens, you have to hit them perfectly or they won't go in," he said.

Touring the usually inviting par 5s in a combined four under par didn't help, either. Or going one for six in sand saves.

Earlier this year, Woods stated his goal was to win the Grand Slam. "Easily within reach," he said.

But then, Woods expects to win every tournament.

"I give it my best shot," said Woods. "That's all I can do. It just didn't happen."

Woods will head to Las Vegas next week to host Tiger Jam XI, where the headliner is Van Halen. He needs a break from his putter.

--Mark Soltau

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- If Tiger Woods is to pull off his first-ever come-from-behind victory in the final round of a major championship, he is going to have to do it in spectacular style. The body language of Woods, who began play Sunday six strokes behind Trevor Immelman at the Masters, personified frustration as he fashioned an even-par 36 over the front nine at Augusta National GC and picked up no ground, although he did pass a fast-fading Paul Casey to move into fourth place.

Woods made one birdie and one bogey and, in perhaps the greatest indication that this might not be his day, failed to birdie either of the two par-5 holes on the front nine. When Nick Faldo came from six back Sunday to beat Greg Norman in the 1996 Masters he made birdies on all four par-5s, the only holes on which you can be really aggressive at Augusta National.

Immelman, meanwhile, rebounded from a shaky bogey on No. 1 with a spectacular second shot on No. 5 for a short birdie putt to get back to 11 under par, where he started the day. But he made a mistake off the tee on the par-5 eighth hole when he drove into a bunker, then three-putted for a bogey, finishing with a 37 on the front nine to fall to 10 under and a two-stroke lead over Steve Flesch.

Brandt Snedeker also bogeyed the first hole but more than made up for that blunder with a 45-foot eagle putt on No. 2. But he bogeyed three of the next five holes and the ninth to turn the front nine in 39 to be four shots off Immelman's pace. Casey, who started the day four strokes behind Immelman, followed a double bogey on No. 4 with four consecutive bogeys and posted an ugly 41 on the front nine to fall eight back at the turn.

-- Ron Sirak

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Tiger Woods needed to put pressure on the four guys ahead of him going into the final round of the Masters by making a couple of quick birdies at Augusta National and intimidate that quartet into making mistakes. What he didn't need was to make mistakes of his own. But that is exactly what he did.

Woods failed to birdie the par-5 second hole, which was playing downwind and was very reachable, when his second shot found the greenside bunker. On the short par-4 third, Woods missed a 12-foot birdie try. But the real killer came on No. 4 when his tee shot on the par-3 found the bunker and then he missed a four-foot par save.

The bogey dropped Woods to four under par for the tournament, a half-dozen shots behind co-leaders Trevor Immelman and Brandt Snedeker. But with the wind whipping at 20 mph and threatening to blow even harder later in the day, combined with the fact none of the players ahead of him have ever really contended -- let alone won -- a major championship, Woods is far from out of it despite his slow start.

-- Ron Sirak

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The massive live oak behind the Augusta National clubhouse was shedding seed pods at a ferocious rate, filling the air with pollen as its branches were buffeted by what was easily a two-club wind. At 2:05 p.m., Tiger Woods aimed his opening drive in the final round of the Masters down the left side of the fairway and the ball followed his eyes as he positioned his tee ball perfectly to attack the middle-right pin position.

But part of the brilliance of Augusta National is that the stately Georgia pines can mask the wind, and at times wall it out completely. Woods second shot slid slightly short and right of the hole, riding a wind the club meteorologist said was blowing at 15 to 20 mph out of the west-northwest when Woods teed off, meaning it was cutting left to right across the first fairway. Winds are supposed to peak at 25 to 30 mph later this afternoon.

Woods was able to putt from the fringe and got down in two for a par; playing partner Stewart Cink birdied to tie Woods at five under par, six strokes behind 54-hole leader Trevor Immelman.

--Ron Sirak

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Tiger Woods arrived at breezy Augusta National Golf Club just before 1 p.m. and went straight to the putting green. After a short practice session, he headed to the range with swing coach Hank Haney, studying the Sunday pin sheet as he walked. Woods always makes mental notes and practices shots he thinks he will need during the round.

As predicted, swirling winds of more than 20 miles-per-hour are making the course play tough so far. The sun is out and there's hardly a cloud in the sky, but spectators are dressed warmly in wind shirts, sweaters and jackets. It's currently in the low 60s. It appears that about one out of four fans are attired in something green.

Woods declined a pre-round interview request from CBS, as did leader Trevor Immelman.

--Mark Soltau

My Top 5 Comments from the Masters on Saturday . . .

5. Lee Westwood backs away from his approach at the ninth hole as a jet rumbles overhead. After it passes a spectator says, "That must be Freddie (Couples) going home."

4. A patron joshing his newcomer friend as to why the concessions stop serving beer at 4 p.m. "You've got to behave here at the National. I heard they once caught a guy fishing in Rae's Creek and they shot him."

3. A youngster of about nine or 10 years old taking stock of the professionals' golf clubs at the driving range. "See how clean and perfect their irons are, dad? They're not like yours."

2. Steve Flesch prepares to hit a shot from near the ropes as his caddie tells spectators, "Will you please be quiet, please?" (The title, verbatim, of a 1976 Raymond Carver collection of short stories. Was the caddie aware of the literary reference? Probably not, but you never know.)

1. Two hours after play resumed, a man slips while walking down the steep, heavily trafficked path alongside the 10th fairway. As he gets up and assesses the mud on his calf and khaki shorts, he mutters, "That there’s some sloppy pudding."

--Max Adler

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Masters Sunday.

There are no two better words in golf, unless they're Tiger and Woods, Jack and Nicklaus or especially at this place, Arnold and Palmer.

You could see the anticipation already in Jim Nantz's eyes Saturday night, coming out of the CBS tower behind 18 at Augusta National, talking to Brandt Snedeker's caddie, Scott Vail. The way the curtain came down on the third round, with Snedeker and Trevor Immelman staking shots in front of Nantz's perch, raised the anticipation level for what could happen today as these two kids scrap and claw for the jacket, with a cast that includes Tiger, young Englishman Paul Casey and the sweet-swinging lefty, Steve Flesch. As Nantz told Vail, "We could hear you breathing."

It was just a classic interchange of two caddies, Vail and Neal Wallace saying the right things, pulling the right clubs, giving the right vibes a championship caddie must give in that situation--and they delivered, along with their players.

It was 50 degrees this morning walking through the gates at 9:30, and my fingers were starting to numb by the time I reached the press center. I wondered how that would affect the feel of a Snedeker or an Immelman, or a Woods for that matter. The week started hot and humid, has weathered various fronts, a fog bank and still is on time, despite 5 hour and 14 minute rounds. Somehow they always get it in.

Todd Anderson, who works with Snedeker in Sea Island, was saying Saturday night that his player feels so comfortable here, and you can see it in the young man's gait. It's like he's playing a home game. "I think he's at ease," Anderson said, as Snedeker was whisked off to the media center. "He loves this place and the way he has to play it."

Immelman looked a little tight at times, but produced a Gary Player-like shot into the home hole, where a day earlier The Black Knight kissed the green. "The kid sees himself winning and playing great and doing fantastic things in golf," says his sport psychologist, Bob Rotella.

Flesch, the everyman on the board, has defied the notion that this is too big a golf course for him, and Casey just hasn't been able to avoid the little mistakes that major championship winners can't afford. The tree branches are already swaying, and Casey has grown up playing in wind but not this kind of competitive heat.

Which bring us to Tiger, who's still trying to figure out a way, a speed that doesn't burn the left edge, a gear that he hasn't found here since 2005. If he can make a move early, get past No. 1 with a par, pick up a shot at the par-5 second, take out the driver and finally make something happen at No. 3, then it's a ballgame. We all want to see how he's going to handle that tee ball at 18, especially if it means something. Or if we get to see him save par from the 10th fairway again, or from the pine straw, over, yes over, the trees.

"I'm right there," Woods said.

Why should we be surprised? It's Masters Sunday.

--Tim Rosaforte

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Can Tiger Woods come from six strokes behind on Sunday to win the Masters? Who better to ask than someone who was inside the ropes to witness one of the greatest comebacks -- and greatest collapses -- in major championship history.

"Absolutely," was the one word that jumped immediately from the mouth of Fanny Sunesson when asked on a brisk morning outside the Augusta National clubhouse if Woods could catch third-round leader Trevor Immelman. "I saw it done," she said in a reference to the 1996 come-from-behind victory by Nick Faldo with Sunesson as his caddie.

Faldo went head-to-head with Greg Norman that day, erased a six-stroke deficit by the 11th hole and eased to victory with a 67 while Norman was stumbling to a 78. "It's a shame that everyone remembers what Greg did that day and forgets Nick's round" she said. "He was brilliant. Tiger definitely has a chance today. The great thing about this golf course is that there are birdies and eagles out there, and there are also bogeys and double bogeys."

Sunesson works now for Henrik Stenson, a fellow Swede who started the final round 13 strokes back at two-over 218. Adding to the drama of the day is the forecast that by the time Woods tees off at 2:05 p.m., the wind will be gusting in the 25 to 30 mph range.

-- Ron Sirak

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Four players, none with a major-championship victory, none ever in contention before at a major, stand between Tiger Woods, his fifth green jacket, his 14th grand-slam title and the first leg of a slam. Can any of them stand up to the pressure?

Trevor Immelman: The 28-year-old South African being compared to Ben Hogan (by the patriarchal countryman Gary Player), showed he had the nerve, and the game, by sticking an approach shot on the 18th hole Saturday for a six-shot lead over Woods. As sport psychologist Bob Rotella told me in a conversation Saturday evening, "His biggest challenge is not to try too hard."

Brandt Snedeker: The lovable, long-haired cat from Nashville, also showed he had the moxie for a major by bouncing back from three consecutive back-nine bogeys with two rebounding birdies, including one at the last, just before Immelman cleaned up. "He told me on 18 tee we were going to make birdie," said caddie Scott Vail. "I was just hoping we got the right yardage." They did, 177 yards to cover, 182 to the pin, a perfect 7-iron with "Sneds" all jacked up on adrenaline.

Steve Flesch: The old man in the group at age 40, also has enough in the guts department, although lack of length may get the better of him in the winds predicted to blow through Augusta National on Sunday afternoon. As he admitted, "It's just not a name everybody expects to see up there on a weekend at a major." But less-accomplished names have won at Augusta, Zach Johnson being one.

Paul Casey: The cheeky 30-year-old Englishman who works with Peter Kostis, is just cocky enough to pull it off. "I enjoyed myself out there," he said. "We had a lot of fun, soaked up the atmosphere, and that's what I'm going to continue to do tomorrow and not worry about anybody else." One more point to consider with Casey: He's a mudder. "I think I have a good
record in bad weather," he said. "I've played in enough of it over the years, playing in Europe."

My gut: If not Woods, it'll be Snedeker, who at 27 could become what Jim Nantz called, "the next great young American player." He's got the best short game, and as instructor Todd Anderson said, "He loves this place and the way you have to play it, using his imagination, that's his game." Plus, he knows Augusta better than some of the clubs' members, having gone around an estimated 40-50 times since winning the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship in 2003. That gave the Vanderbilt graduate a hall pass to use the course in preparation for the 2004 Masters, which he took advantage of.

"It was almost like I was a member," he said. "I wore the place out."

Sunday, he could be wearing the green jacket. It'd go well with that retro hair and old-school visor.

--Tim Rosaforte

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Andres Romero is golf's new blithe spirit.

Many have held the title: John Daly after gripping and ripping Crooked Stick. Sergio Garcia after the scissor kick at Medinah. Jesper Parnevik, especially after a volcanic-ash colonic. But no one ever holds on to it for very long. The accumulated cruelties of the game and the jadedness that comes with the decadence of modern professional golf tend to end innocence sooner rather than later.

Romero, though, might have a long reign. That he was able to smile after the crazy bounce that took his ball out-of-bounds on the 71st hole of the British Open last year at Carnoustie, spoiling a magical round in which his 10 birdies in the previous 16 holes had given him the lead, showed a special resilience and optimism.

And so it was on Saturday after the 26-year-old from Tucuman, Argentina, missed a five-footer for birdie on the 18th after a killing double bogey on the par-3 16th. That one, which started with a pushed 7-iron into the death bunker for a right-hand pin, ended a stunning streak of four birdies in five holes that had tied Romero with playing partner Tiger Woods.

Finishing at two under for 36 holes, Romero had plenty of reason to be morose coming off the final green. Instead, he sported the same smile he wore at Carnoustie.

"There's nothing to be upset about," he said in Spanish, stopping under the big oak tree before entering the locker room. "My life is very good. If I play well, or if I don't, there is so much money. But I've always been like this."

As Mark Lawrie, executive director of the Argentine Golf Association puts it, "I don't think Pigu [Romero's nickname] will ever need a sport psychologist."

Romero, the winner at New Orleans two weeks ago and a former caddie, came to his first Masters eager to soak up knowledge. Asked if he was intimidated playing with Mickelson in the first two rounds and Woods in the third, Romero said, "No, I was excited because I knew I would learn." He added, "I was most impressed by Tiger. There are no flaws in his game. When I play with him, I watch everything he does."

Romero is only 5-feet-10 and generously listed at 165 pounds, but his thickly muscled arms could belong to a man 40 pounds heavier. Before turning pro at age 16, the sixth of eight children of a handyman was also a whiz on a unicycle. "Maybe it's all the carne asada," he joked. "I've always been strong. My parents are strong."

On Saturday, Romero outdrove Woods on several occasions, just as he had when the two were paired last year at Firestone. Because of the language barrier and Woods' major mode, there was minimal conversation between the two, but after the round, Woods signed Romero's hat. "Tiger likes him," said Mark Steinberg, Woods' agent. "He respects talent, and the kid is good."

For his part, Romero did not rule out a Carnoustie-like Sunday round. "I'm going to go out tomorrow the same way I did today--aggressively. For everything."

--Jaime Diaz

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- No matter what happens Sunday in the 72nd Masters Tournament--and the forecast calls for temperatures in the low 60s and 20-mile-per-hour winds--Tiger Woods has the attention of the leaders. Had his putter cooperated Saturday, he might have been playing in the last group.

Woods' bogey-free, four-under-par 68--his best score at Augusta since a third-round 65 in 2005--vaulted him from a tie for 13th place to fifth, six strokes behind leader Trevor Immelman. But for the second consecutive round, Woods couldn't solve the greens, taking 31 putts.

"It was probably the highest score I could have shot," said Woods.

Let us count some of the missed opportunities: from 25 feet for eagle at No. 2, 16 feet at No. 7, eight feet at No. 8, 20 feet at No. 9, 25 feet at No. 12, 30 feet at No. 13 and eight feet at No. 15. Woods buried a 25-foot birdie putt at the par-4 10th--by far his longest putt of the week. The next-longest was an eight-footer for par at No. 1 on Thursday.

"I hit so many putts that skirted the hole," he said.

At the short par-4 third hole, Woods hit a big drive just short of the green, then clipped a 60-degree sand wedge near the pin, only to see it spin back 30 feet. Woods lobbed the iron at his bag, then left the birdie putt short. But instead of fuming while playing partner Andres Romero putted out, Woods walked to the edge of the green, tossed up grass to see which way the wind was blowing on the par-3 fourth hole, and did mental math on what club to hit.

"You just have to hang in there, because anything can happen out here," said Woods. "You can shoot yourself right out of it and you can put yourself right back in it."

Woods has won 13 professional major titles, including four green jackets; Immelman's best finish in a major is a tie for fifth at Augusta National in 2005.

Woods has never won a major starting from behind on Sunday, but the leaders--Immelman, Brandt Snedeker, Steve Flesch and Paul Casey--have zero major victories among them.

--Mark Soltau

Who's got the experience and the ability to go low at Augusta National? The top 15 entering the final round, with their career low at Augusta and their rounds played in the Masters:

1. Trevor Immelman (-11): career low of 65 in 19 rounds at Augusta.
2. Brandt Snedeker (-9): 68, seven rounds.
3. Steve Flesch (-8): 67, 13 rounds.
4. Paul Casey (-7): 68, 13 rounds.
5. Tiger Woods (-5): 65, 53 rounds.
6. Stewart Cink (-4): 69, 39 rounds.
T-7. Zach Johnson (-2): 68, 13 rounds.
T-7. Boo Weekley (-2): 68, three rounds.
T-7. Padraig Harrington (-2): 68, 31 rounds.
T-7. Andres Romero (-2): 70, three rounds.
T-7. Robert Karlsson (-2): 70, seven rounds.
T-7. Sean O'Hair (-2): 71, five rounds.
T-7. Retief Goosen (-2): 67, 35 rounds.
T-7. Ian Poulter (-2): 69, 15 rounds.
T-7. Phil Mickelson (-2): 65, 61 rounds.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Was there ever any doubt? Tiger Woods did nothing eventful for the first two rounds at the Masters, and still he was lurking. Now, after Saturday's bogey-free 68--a score he said was the highest possible he could have posted--the world's best golfer has shed some fellow challengers and cast himself as a realistic contender on what promises to be a blustery Sunday. The last man to win a Masters from beyond the top 10 after 36 holes was Jack Nicklaus in 1986. So, if chasing Trevor Immelman, Brandt Snedeker, Steve Flesch and Paul Casey--nary a major title among them--doesn't get Tiger's attention, surely another crack at The Golden Bear's legacy should appeal to Woods.

"I've got some work to do," said Woods, following a par from the pine straw right of No. 18, as he had on Friday. And the leaders have some worrying to do. Woods hit the ball very nicely Saturday, but he made only one putt of note. He has yet to find comfort on the greens. That is a warning. Woods began the round seven shots off Immelman's lead, but Tiger's fans--including members of his inner circle--were pumped for some electricity, even after an early afternoon storm passed. Tiger birdied No. 2, but despite scorching his tee ball on Nos. 7 and 8, missed birdie putts.

Still, he posted 35 on the front nine, and then when he birdied No. 10, finally cracked the leader board at T-9, five shots off the pace. His putter was not an ally. The rains had softened the greens, and he was not dialed in on pace. But he also had an occasional misread, such as on No. 11, where he left a 45-footer well wide. He converted for par, but only after making things hard on himself.

The difference between good and not so good is so fractional at Augusta National, as witnessed by No. 16 Saturday when Woods struck what appeared to be a fine 8-iron toward a back right pin. The ball landed to within five feet, then peeled off and retreated to the front of the green. He could have been putting for birdie. Instead, he did well to get down in three from 55 feet. A few minutes later, having pounded another drive on No. 17, he had his second kick-in birdie in as many days.

After lofting a 7-iron through a keyhole in the trees toward the 18th green, Woods was seen striding sideways to get a view of the result. He looks quite confident. Would you want him coming up from behind you on Sunday?

--Bob Verdi

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Zach Johnson might not repeat as Masters champion, but he is putting up a good defense. The Iowa native posted a four-under 68 Saturday to vault from T-29 after 36 holes to T-7 at two-under 214.

Johnson's climb onto the leader board came a day after paying too much attention to where he stood in the tournament Friday en route to his second-round 76. "I think there are some mental differences for sure [between Friday and today]," Johnson said. "I think I might have looked at the board a few too many times yesterday. [I was] thinking, 'I've got to pick up some shots,' rather than letting the course and the shots come to me. There are certain courses you might be able to do that, [but] this is far from one of them."

Barring some dramatic collapses Sunday by the players leading the way -- Trevor Immelman, Steve Flesch, Brandt Snedeker and Paul Casey -- Johnson will have a lot of ground to make up. He knows how those players will be feeling tonight in position to win their first major as he did in 2007.

"You know, you've got the jitters, you've got the nerves certainly," Johnson said when asked what it feels like on the eve of a final round. "There's not any one of those guys who couldn't win a major as far as I'm concerned. It's just a matter of staying mentally fresh and not letting things get you down. You're going to get some bad breaks and hit some great shots and make pars or bogeys. It's a matter of staying in it."

Just as Johnson did with a tidy day at the office Saturday.

-- Bill Fields

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The hand-operated leader boards on the course at Augusta National are part of the wonderful tradition at the Masters. It always creates a buzz when a number changes, prompting cheers for a birdie and groans for a bogey. The deliberate pace with which the numbers changes deliciously builds the drama. And then there is the reaction when one name is taken down and a new one pops up.

Such was the case at 4:04 p.m. Saturday when shortly after a birdie putt on No. 10 found the bottom of the cup, the name "Woods" found its way onto the leader boards at three under par, sending a buzz of excitement rattling through the Georgia pines.  At the time, Tiger was five strokes behind Trevor Immelman and Brandt Snedeker. It was the first time Woods had been on the leader board since Thursday's first round.

-- Ron Sirak

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- If Tiger Woods produces something special this afternoon, he'll probably look back on the 45-minute rain delay as a timely break. According to his coach, Hank Haney, Woods didn't have the best warm-up session on the range prior to his 1:10 p.m. tee time. Just 15 minutes before showtime, play was halted for 45 minutes, as the heaviest rain we've seen since it arrived last night drenched the course.

At 1:55, Woods bombed his opening tee shot down the middle of the first fairway, and the third round, as far as spectators are concerned, officially began. Here's hoping the later groups get in before dark. The final twosome (Immelman and Snedeker) will tee off at 3:25.

--CB

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Before I turned into a full time golf writer I was lucky enough to photograph the Masters from 1985 to 1995. And on a nice day when some golfer pulls off a roar-worthy shot and provides a reaction to match, it makes me yearn a bit for those days when I was carrying a camera instead of a notebook.

But on a rainy day -- a storm just suspended play at Augusta National about a half-hour ago -- the nostalgia doesn't last long.

While it is no fun to shoot a tournament in searing heat, wet weather is the worst. While golf photographers benefit from lighter, more breathable rainwear just like golfers do, keeping cameras and lenses dry is still a pain. But it was even more of a chore before the advent of high-tech, waterproof covers for one's photo gear.

My memory of the final round of the 1989 Masters is that the rain hardly let up all day, and by the time Nick Faldo won a playoff over Scott Hoch, almost everybody had a camera go dead because of the unrelenting moisture. At least that day, for me, I didn't have a damp camera "freak out" the way I had one do to me on a soggy afternoon at the LPGA Championship one year, when it fired continuously while Laura Davies was over a tee shot and kept shooting until I scrambled away from the tee and pulled out the battery pack.

So when you see a good golf photograph taken on a rainy day, appreciate it.

-- Bill Fields

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Well, it has happened again. Another year, another weather delay at Augusta National. Play was suspended at 1:02 p.m. during the third round -- with Brian Bateman and Richard Sterne preparing to hit their opening tee shots and Tiger Woods and Andres Romero in the on-deck circle -- as hard rain fell and loud thunder rumbled above Augusta National.

Now, you can’t do anything about poor weather. But you can do something about how you handle it, and with rain in the forecast for today, couldn’t the starting times have been moved up a little? The first tee time today was 10:50 a.m., with the final pair of Trevor Immelman and Brandt Snedeker set to go at 2:40 p.m. Play is expected to resume at 1:40, which may or may not allow those two to finish their rounds today. And if they don’t, they’ll have to come out early Sunday to finish and then wait some five to six hours before going back out for round four. That’s not an inconvenience -- it's a competitive disadvantage.

The Masters has not spilled over to Monday since 1983, the end result of a Friday washout. But this is Georgia. In April. From 1998 through 2006 weather  interrupted play at the Masters every year except 2001. If you ask me, it’s time to make the smart move and push the tee times up an hour on the weekend.

-- E. Michael Johnson

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- At five-under 139, tied for third with Ian Poulter and Steve Flesch only three strokes behind 36-hole leader Trevor Immelman, Phil Mickelson starts the weekend not only with an excellent chance to win but also to polish his reputation as a golfer who has made a significant mark despite competing in the Age of Tiger.

A victory would be Mickelson's third at Augusta National, which would tie him with Jimmy Demaret (1940, 1947, 1950), Sam Snead (1949, 1952, 1954), Gary Player (1961, 1974, 1978) and Nick Faldo (1989, 1990, 1996) on the all-time Masters victory list. Moreover, it would give him a distinction that none of Jack Nicklaus' rivals were ever able to achieve when they were going against the best player of his day.

From the time Nicklaus won his first Masters (1963) until his sixth and final triumph (1986), no other player was able to claim more than two green jackets -- not even Tom Watson, who supplanted Nicklaus as golf's No. 1 in the late-1970s. And several golfers -- notably Lee Trevino, Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller -- couldn't find the secret to winning a single Masters title during the Golden Bear's reign.

-- Bill Fields

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Mother Nature's timing was impeccable. While overcast skies and spits of rain could be seen ever since the gates opened at 8 a.m. Saturday morning, it wasn't until after Miguel Angel Jimenez hit the opening tee shot of the third round that a steady drizzle started coming down.

Suffice it to say, players will have to cope with the elements during Saturday's play. In addition to intermittent showers and a slight chance of thunderstorms, winds have picked up, gusting 20 to 25 miles per hour.

AUGUSTA, Ga.--Officially, the Masters ended for Alabama senior Michael Thompson and Virginia Tech junior Drew Weaver Friday afternoon when the amateurs missed the cut with scores of seven-over 151 and 12-over 156, respectively. Unofficially, though, the two are looking to take in a little more of the experience this weekend. Both stayed in the Crow's Nest another night Friday and were out on the practice putting green outside the clubhouse Saturday morning.

"I've got the ACC Championship coming up next week. I can't think of a better place to get in a little practice," Weaver said.

A day earlier, an emotionally exhausted Weaver walked off the course teary-eyed,