Sirak: Woods Off To Slow Start

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