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Peter Hanson Leads Masters but Mickelson Lurks
More Masters Misery for McIlroy
Tiger Struggling to Avoid Worst Masters Finish
Confident Harrington Eyes Fourth Major Title
Peter Hanson Leads Masters but Mickelson Lurks
AUGUSTA, USA / Georgia, April 7, 2012 (AFP) - Sweden's Peter Hanson emerged as the third-round leader of the Masters at Augusta National on Sunday after a day of high drama and fluctuating fortunes.
The 34-year-old World No. 25 produced golf of supreme quality to card a tournament-best seven-under 65 and stood at nine-under par, one stroke clear of fan favorite Phil Mickelson, who covered the back nine in six-under 30, one shy of the tournament record.
A stroke further back at seven under came South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen after he had a 69 while Bubba Watson of the United States was on six under after a 70.
Matt Kuchar (70) was on five under with four players -- Hunter Mahan of the United States (68), Henrik Stenson of Sweden (70), Lee Westwood of England (72) and Padraig Harrington of Ireland (68) -- all on four under.
On a day of perfect playing conditions, eight players shared the lead at different stages drawing huge roars of appreciation from the big galleries assembled for the occasion.
Tiger Woods fired a par 72 and, at three over, his chances of winning a fourth green jacket are doomed, standing 12 strokes off the pace.
Rory McIlroy, one back from the leaders at the start of the day, was stunned by two double-bogey sixes on the front nine as he went out in a jaw-dropping 42 that brought back dark memories of his closing 80 here last year.
He steadied the ship somewhat down the back nine but his total of 77 left him at two over and out of contention.
Hanson, who played with Mickelson in the first two rounds, is one of the quiet men of golf, but after bogeying the first he made all the right sounds as he rattled off eight birdies, including the last two holes, to leap up the leaderboard.
It is only the Ryder Cup player's second Masters, having missed the cut last year.
Asked what he would need to manage on Sunday he replied: "Emotions, of course. That's going to be the biggest thing.
"This is kind of a new situation to me, being in the spotlight like this, and playing the last group.
"So it's going to be about controlling my emotions and trying to be in the present and trying to play the same kind of golf that I've been doing today."
The 41-year-old Mickelson, though, was clearly the big story of the day for the Augusta National faithful.
The three-time former winner started the day three strokes behind co-leaders Freddie Couples and Jason Dufner and he got little going early on with nine straight pars down the front side.
But similar to the Saturday round in 2010 when he last won the Masters, Mickelson fired on all cyclinders going round Amen Corner after the turn.
A birdie at 10, where he lost his ball in the first round on Thursday to slip to four over, was followed by a birdie at the par-three 12th and an eagle at the 13th, where he sunk a 25-foot snaking putt from just off the green.
A superbly lobbed pitch from the back of the 15th green gave him another birdie and he finished in style with two more birdies at 17 and 18 for a 66, his best round at Augusta National since a 65 in 1996.
"It was a good day. I was patient because I had opportunities on the front nine that didn't fall but on the back nine they did and got me in a great position for tomorrow. The eagle on 13 was the big one -- it gave me momentum," he said.
Oosthuizen, aiming to make it back-to-back wins for South Africa after Charl Schwartzel's victory last year, had a chance to draw level with Hanson at the last but instead of the birdie he needed he got a bogey after a poor approach.
"I felt in control of my swing which always helps," he said.
"I felt calm and just wanted to put myself close to the leaders and have a go at it tomorrow."
Third round co-leaders Couples and Dufner were dislodged very quickly by World No. 3 Westwood, but the Englishman stumbled himself with bogeys at seven and nine as Hanson took over.
Woods mounted a brief mini-charge early on, but quickly fell back again and by the completion of his round, his hopes of a fifth green jacket were in tatters.
Starting the day eight strokes behind the leaders, Woods was looking for a quick rebound after his swing nightmare down the back nine on Friday but failed to get it.
"Obviously I need help from the guys this afternoon," he said. "Regardless of what they do, I need to play a great round of golf tomorrow, and hopefully I can do that."
More Masters Misery for McIlroy
AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 7, 2012 (AFP) - Rory McIlroy's saw his hopes of a Masters green jacket once again blown away on Saturday as he ruined his chances with a rash of uncustomary poor shots.
Starting the day just one shot off the lead and firmly installed as tournament favorite with the bookies, the 22-year-old Ulsterman's pairing with Sergio Garcia had birdie-fest written all over it.
But from the very first hole when, for the second time in three rounds, McIlroy had a double-bogey six, it all went badly wrong.
Worse was to follow for the reigning US Open champion with more sixes at seven and eight as he limped to the turn in 42.
Another bogey at 11 had him seven over for the round evoking dark memories of the final round 80 he fired here last year after he had started the day four strokes clear of the field.
McIlroy found some solace with a birdie at the par-three 12th, which brought a friendly hug with Garcia, who was having problems of his own as he also went out in 40.
McIlroy finally covered the back nine in 35 for a round of 77 that left him at one over for the tournament and to all intents and purposes out of contention.
"I just couldn't hit any fairways. When you can't hit fairways around here you make life a lot more difficult for yourself," McIlroy said.
"I was hanging in there, made a really good up and down on four, good up and down on six, and just sort of trying to hang in.
"Making double on seven and then another six on eight really knocked everything out of me and it was hard to get any momentum going after that."
Talking of his hug with Garcia at the 12th, McIlroy said: "That was both of our first birdies of the day, so we needed to feel a little love from someone out there. It was a nice moment in the round filled with not too good moments."
Garcia, who came in with a 75 to stand at one under for the tournament, agreed that the two had failed to spark each other.
"Couldn't feed off each other's good energy. There wasn't any. Our bad holes were really bad, our good holes bad," the Spaniard said.
The aim for McIlroy now, the Ulsterman said, was to finish in the top 10 on Sunday by shooting something in the mid 60s.
"Seems like every year I come here I throw a bad nine holes out there. Forty-two today wasn't a great effort.
"But the good thing is it wasn't on the last day. I can go out there tomorrow, try and shoot a good score, try and finish well, get a top 10 or a top five or whatever ... and at least leave here in a positive frame of mind."
After that, McIlroy will be looking to match his achievement of last year when he turned up at the US Open two months later and won his first Major by eight strokes.
This year's US Open take place at San Francisco's Olympic Club from June 14-17.
McIlroy will play on Sunday with Ryder Cup partner and close friend Graeme McDowell.
Tiger Struggling to Avoid Worst Masters Finish
AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 7, 2012 (AFP) - Tiger Woods, struggling to make birdies at Augusta National on the par-5 holes he once dominated, battled to a par-72 on Saturday in the third round of the Masters.
And while the 14-time major champion would not rule himself out in the hunt for a fifth Masters champion's green jacket, his disappointing three-over 219 after 54 holes has him much closer to his worst Masters showing than the lead.
Woods was 12 strokes off the pace of third-round leader Peter Hanson of Sweden. The best final-round comeback by a winner in Masters history was eight strokes by Jack Burke in 1956.
"I'm so far back I need help from the guys (ahead of him to fall back) and I need to go out tomorrow and play a spectacular round," Woods said.
Last year, Woods began the last round seven adrift but pulled into a share of the lead before settling for a share of fourth.
"It's doable," Woods said. "If somebody shoots 4- or 5-under par, it's going to be tough to go get them. But you can be four, five, six back on the back nine and still win. I need to put myself there where I have a chance."
Woods, sharing 38th after 54 holes, is trying to avoid his worst Masters finish as a professional, which was a share of 22nd in 2004. Woods missed the cut in 1996 and shared 41st in his 1995 as an amateur.
"I didn't play that badly," Woods said of his third round. "It was so close to being a really good round of golf. I did not play the par-5s that well. I just didn't take care of the opportunities when I had them."
Indeed, Woods is only one-under par on par-5 holes through three rounds, going 1-for-12 in making birdies on par-5 chances. That's the fewest birdies on par-5s ever for Woods over 54 holes in 18 Masters starts.
"I've stubbed my foot on the par-5s," Woods said. "You should be able to play them at 3-under every day and I certainly have not done that."
Last year, Woods was 10-under on the par-5 holes and in 2010, after a long hiatus following his infamous sex scandal, he was 15-under on the par-5s.
World No. 7 Woods also leads the US PGA Tour on par-5 scoring with birdie or better 62 percent of the time, a factor in his victory two weeks ago at the Arnold Palmer Invitational to snap a 28-month win drought.
But Woods said he has had different problems with different aspects of his game on the par-5s, no single problem the main cause of his troubles.
"It was just one thing after another, so you have got to be patient, which I was. I was grinding hard and it was a tough day," Woods said.
"The greens are soft. You can get after some of the flags. But the wind is just puffy enough out there where you get different directions. A good shot can get a bad spot or a slope."
Retired Scottish star Colin Montgomerie pronounced Woods with no chance to pull off the stunning comeback victory after a struggle just to finish at par.
"That will get him in the top 20 but yes, he's done with it," Montgomerie told BBC TV. "He's obviously not back. He's nowhere near back. There's something far, far wrong still."
Three-time Masters champion Nick Faldo of England, commenting on CBS, said Woods lacks the belief in his abilities he enjoyed before the 2009 sex scandal that destroyed his iconic image.
"There are a few more demons sitting on his shoulders," Faldo said. "He hasn't got the same confidence in himself since he crashed and burned in his life. He really doesn't have that self belief he had five years ago."
Woods sank an eight-foot birdie putt at the par-4 third and hit a great tee shot for a tap-in birdie at the par-3 fourth, but took a bogey at the par-3 sixth and snap-hooked a tee shot at the ninth on the way to a bogey.
The former World No. 1, chasing the record 18 major titles won by Jack Nicklaus, then parred his way through the back nine.
Woods salvaged par at the par-5 13th after hooking a tee shot left into the rocks near Rae's Creek and hurling his club to the ground in frustration a day after kicking another club.
"I certainly heard that people didn't like me kicking the club, but I didn't like it either," Woods said. "I hit it right in the bunker and didn't feel good on my toe either."
Confident Harrington Eyes Fourth Major Title
AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 7, 2012 (AFP) - Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington, winless on tour since taking the 2008 PGA Championship, birdied five of the last six holes on Saturday to become a contender at the Masters.
The 40-year-old Irishman closed with a flourish in firing a four-under par 68 to stand on four-under par 212 after 54 holes at Augusta National, sharing sixth place and only five strokes behind leader Peter Hanson of Sweden.
"I've won more majors than anybody else in the last five years," Harrington said. "That's not a long time in Majors. You could say I'm the man in form."
Harrington won the 2007 and 2008 British Open as well as the 2008 PGA and is a threat to add a Masters green jacket after matching his low round ever in 13 appearances at Augusta National, the prior two ending before the weekend.
"I have no problem that I haven't won a Major in the last couple years. I'm happy sitting on three," Harrington said. "I'm comfortable with that. I understand there are cycles in these things and I'm on an up cycle at the moment."
Among his rivals for the title, only four-time major winner Phil Mickelson and 14-time major champion Tiger Woods have fared better in majors, and Woods stood seven strokes behind Harrington.
"There's only two guys playing the game that have won more than me," said Harrington. "I don't need to go out there and prove anything out there. I've won three majors and I will win more majors. I don't need to panic tomorrow.
"It's not like it's the end of the world. If it goes well, it does. If it doesn't, it doesn't. No matter what happens on Sunday I will be back working hard on Monday. You've got to be trying to go forward not to move backward."
Having won majors can leave a player so much hungrier for more that it impacts his efforts, Harrington said, saying he has been a victim of such desire.
"That 'want' sometimes can get to you. I think it has with me sometimes," he said. "You get drawn in. You get so high you want that feeling again.
"I go out there letting it happen rather than being desperate to win. I'm going to let it happen. I'm not going to force it. I'm trying to play down my own expectations. I'm hoping to hang in there.
"I don't know what's going to happen or what I need to do, but I'm happy with my game."
After two birdies and two bogeys on the front nine and a bogey at the 11th, Harrington began his birdie binge at the par-5 13th, followed and 14, the par-5 15th and par-3 16th, then took a par at 17 before closing with another birdie.
"I've been happy with my form but I hadn't been putting well," Harrington said. "It felt pretty comfortable at the time. It felt normal. I was making hay when it was going well.
"When things are going for you, you have got to make those birdies. At Augusta you have got to take those chances."
Harrington sought out and received some putting advice this week from 1985 and 1993 Masters champion Bernhard Langer of Germany.
"It was my sole purpose to find him and ask a few questions," Harrington said. "I know he has gone through some woes with his putting at times. He was the perfect guy to talk about it with."
That has helped Harrington's confidence in his overall game.
"You better believe it or nobody else is going to believe it," Harrington said. "I'm positive. I like what I see in my game. I think it's going forward. I don't feel in any shape or form I've maxed out this week."
Masters Third Round Scores
AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 7, 2012 (AFP) - Complete scores on Saturday after the third round of the 76th Masters golf tournament at par-72 Augusta National Golf Club:
207 - Peter Hanson (SWE) 68-74-65
208 - Phil Mickelson (USA) 74-68-66
209 - Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 68-72-69
210 - Bubba Watson (USA) 69-71-70
211 - Matt Kuchar (USA) 71-70-70
212 - Hunter Mahan (USA) 72-72-68, Padraig Harrington (IRL) 71-73-68, Henrik Stenson (SWE) 71-71-70, Lee Westwood (ENG) 67-73-72
213 - Paul Lawrie (SCO) 69-72-72
214 - Francesco Molinari (ITA) 69-75-70, Ian Poulter (ENG) 72-72-70, Fredrik Jacobson (SWE) 76-68-70, Sean O'Hair (USA) 73-70-71, Nick Watney (USA) 71-71-72, Ben Crane (USA) 69-73-72, Jason Dufner (USA) 69-70-75, Fred Couples (USA) 72-67-75
215 - Brandt Snedeker (USA) 72-75-68, Bae Sang-Moon (KOR) 75-71-69, Jim Furyk (USA) 70-73-72, Jonathan Byrd (USA) 72-71-72, Sergio Garcia (ESP) 72-68-75
216 - Webb Simpson (USA) 72-74-70, Justin Rose (ENG) 72-72-72, Charles Howell (USA) 72-70-74
217 - Scott Stallings (USA) 70-77-70, Geoff Ogilvy (AUS) 74-72-71, Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) 71-74-72, Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP) 69-72-76, Rory McIlroy (NIR) 71-69-77
218 - Graeme McDowell (NIR) 75-72-71, Kevin Chappell (USA) 71-76-71, Kevin Na (USA) 71-75-72, Adam Scott (AUS) 75-70-73, Yang Yong-Eun (KOR) 73-70-75, Vijay Singh (FIJ) 70-72-76
219 - Tiger Woods (USA) 72-75-72, Zach Johnson (USA) 70-74-75, Aaron Baddeley (AUS) 71-71-77
220 - Angel Cabrera (ARG) 71-78-71, Steve Stricker (USA) 71-77-72, Rickie Fowler (USA) 74-74-72
221 - Keegan Bradley (USA) 71-77-73, Anders Hansen (DEN) 76-72-73, Ross Fisher (ENG) 71-77-73, David Toms (USA) 73-73-75
222 - Martin Laird (SCO) 76-72-74, Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 72-75-75, Martin Kaymer (GER) 72-75-75, Bill Haas (USA) 72-74-76
223 - Patrick Cantlay (USA) 71-78-74, Thomas Bjorn (DEN) 73-76-74, Luke Donald (ENG) 75-73-75, Bo Van Pelt (USA) 73-75-75, Scott Verplank (USA) 73-75-75
225 - Trevor Immelman (RSA) 78-71-76, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ESP) 74-75-76, Edoardo Molinari (ITA) 75-74-76, Robert Karlsson (SWE) 74-74-77
226 - Kelly Kraft (USA) 74-75-77
227 - Stewart Cink (USA) 71-75-81
WD - Gary Woodland (USA) 73-70-85
Masters Final-Round Pairings
AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 7, 2012 (AFP) - Pairings for Sunday's final round of the 76th Masters golf tournament at par-72 Augusta National Golf Club (all times local, four hours off GMT):
9:20 a.m. - Kelly Kraft (USA), Stewart Cink (USA)
9:30 - Edoardo Molinari (ITA), Robert Karlsson (SWE)
9:40 - Trevor Immelman (RSA), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ESP)
9:50 - Bo Van Pelt (USA), Scott Verplank (USA)
10:00 - Thomas Bjorn (DEN), Luke Donald (ENG)
10:10 - Bill Haas (USA), Patrick Cantlay (USA)
10:20 - Charl Schwartzel (USA), Martin Kaymer (GER)
10:30 - David Toms (USA), Martin Laird (SCO))
10:40 - Anders Hansen (DEN), Ross Fisher (ENG)
10:50 - Rickie Fowler (USA), Keegan Bradley (USA)
11:00 - Angel Cabrera (ARG), Steve Stricker (USA)
11:10 - Open
11:20 - Zach Johnson (USA), Aaron Baddeley (AUS)
11:30 - Vijay Singh (FIJ), Tiger Woods (USA)
11:40 - Adam Scott (AUS), Yang Yong-Eun (KOR)
11:50 - Kevin Chappell (USA), Kevin Na (USA)
12:00 - Rory McIlroy (NIR), Graeme McDowell (NIR)
12:10 p.m. - Hideki Matsuyama (JPN), Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP)
12:20 - Scott Stallings (USA), Geoff Ogilvy (AUS)
12:30 - Justin Rose (ENG), Charles Howell (USA)
12:40 - Sergio Garcia (ESP), Webb Simpson (USA)
12:50 - Jim Furyk (USA), Jonathan Byrd (USA)
1:00 - Open
1:10 - Brandt Snedeker (USA), Bae Sang-Moon (KOR)
1:20 - Jason Dufner (USA), Fred Couples (USA)
1:30 - Nick Watney (USA), Ben Crane (USA)
1:40 - Fredrik Jacobson (SWE), Sean O'Hair (USA)
1:50 - Francesco Molinari (ITA), Ian Poulter (ENG)
2:00 - Lee Westwood (ENG), Paul Lawrie (SCO)
2:10 - Padraig Harrington (IRL), Henrik Stenson (SWE)
2:20 - Matt Kuchar (USA), Hunter Mahan (USA)
2:30 - Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), Bubba Watson (USA)
2:40 - Peter Hanson (SWE), Phil Mickelson (USA)