The Masters: Daily Wrap-Up, Round 3

Kenny Perry began Round 3 in the last group, and that's exactly where he finished it. He'll have a different partner Sunday, though; former U.S. Open winner Angel Cabrera joined him at 11 under.

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) -- Kenny Perry took one last look at the leaderboard behind the 18th green at Augusta National. This was no time to relish his position at the top with Angel Cabrera, rather to consider what lies ahead.

You will definitely see something on the back nine," Perry said Saturday. "That's where it's all going to happen."

Now this is the Masters everyone wanted to see.

Perry and Cabrera were tied at 11-under 205, the lowest 54-hole score at Augusta National
in seven years. Even the 16 players within seven shots of the lead still feel like they're in the game because of those familiar back-nine fireworks in the forecast.

And best of all, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will go head-to-head in the final round. Even though seven players and seven shots separated them from the leaders, both know to expect anything.

"A lot of things happen on Sunday at Augusta," Mickelson said. "And I would never put it past happening again."

Cabrera and Perry are no strangers to pressure on a big stage, but this is different.

Sunday at Augusta National is a test unlike any other they have faced.

Cabrera, who won the U.S. Open two years ago at Oakmont, made three birdies on the back nine and scratched out an important par on the final hole for a 3-under 69.

Perry, who thrived under the spotlight of a Ryder Cup in his native Kentucky last September, overcame two mistakes with his putter around Amen Corner and finished with five
consecutive pars for a 70 to join the Argentine in the lead.

It will be the first time they've played in the final group at a major.

"I'm lucky enough to be in a very good position," Cabrera said. "I haven't been in this position before, so I'll try to make the most of it."

Perry is still stung by his playoff loss at the PGA Championship at Valhalla in 1996, when he was criticized for being in the broadcast booth instead of keeping loose on the practice range. He never would have imagined that all these years later, he would have a chance to become golf's oldest major champion at 48.

The first two days felt like I was on vacation," Perry said. "Today felt like a job."

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Tiger not out of contention, but odds are long
By T.J. Auclair, PGA.com Interactive Producer

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Tiger Woods is probably going to have to do something otherworldly to win the 73rd Masters on Sunday.

He'll need a little help, too.

We're not saying the world's No. 1 player and owner of 14 major championships, including four green jackets, isn't capable of coming from behind – it's just that Woods has never come from behind after 54 holes to win a major before.

This time around the deficit is large. After shooting a 2-under 70 in the third round, Woods is tied for 10th at 4 under total and trails 54-hole co-leaders Kenny Perry and Angel Cabrera by seven shots.

Just two weeks ago at Bay Hill, Woods made up a five-shot deficit in the final round to top Sean O'Hair. However, that wasn't the Masters.

The names Chad Campbell, Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker, Rory Sabbatini, Todd Hamilton – all TOUR winners with two major wins and several other major top-10s between them – as well as Tim Clark, who ousted Woods in the second round of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, are in front of him.

To make the final round extra special – and perhaps easier on the leaders – is the fact that Woods is paired with Phil Mickelson (also 4 under) for just the third time on a major Sunday and the first time since the 2001 Masters, which Woods won.

Does Woods have a chance?

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Big names relegated to longshots Sunday
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM Managing Editor

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Seven shots behind going into the final round of the Masters? Feeling hopeless about your chances? Well, you probably should.

Just two players in Masters history have made up seven or more strokes in the last 18 holes to claim the green jacket: Jack Burke Jr., who came back from eight strokes to win in 1956, and Gary Player, who rallied from seven back in 1978.

To make matters a bit more depressing, just once in the last 18 years has the Masters winner not come from the final group Sunday. Take a bow, 2007 winner Zach Johnson.

But look at the leaderboard going into the final round of the 2009 Masters. Let your eyes drift down a little, say, perhaps to the players who stand at 4 under, tied for 10th. See any familiar faces?

Sorry, Tiger, you can't hide down there. Neither can you, Lefty.

Just two of the top 18 players on the third-round leaderboard have ever won at Augusta National, and both are lurking at 4 under. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson -- who'll be paired together Sunday for the 22nd time, and just the second in the final round of a major ('97 PGA Championship was first) -- have a lot of ground to make up, and history obviously doesn't favor their chances.

But as former Masters winner Nick Faldo said late in Saturday's CBS telecast: "I promise you, all the 4s feel like they have a great opportunity."

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A favorite pairing set for Sunday in Augusta

They're not in the last group. They're seven shots off the lead. They're not likely to leave Augusta National with another Green Jacket ... but does any of that really matter? Golf fans around the world will be thrilled to see the top two golfers -- Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson --
together again on Sunday at the Masters.

Besides, just because they sit in a tie for 10th at 4 under with the leaders at 11 under doesn't mean we should throw all hope out the window; it is Tiger and Phil after all. And you know neither of them are giving up.

"I think it (will) be fun," said Mickelson. "It doesn't matter who I'm really playing with. I've got to go out and shoot a low number. I've got to shoot something in the mid 60s."

You can bet Tiger is thinking the same thing.

Sunday's final round will pit Tiger and Phil against each other for the 24th time in their careers. For a complete list of their pairings over the years, click here.

Notes from the third round of the Masters
Compiled by Elias Sports Bureau

• Kenny Perry and Angel Cabrera are tied for the lead going into the final round at the Masters. In the last 10 years at Augusta, eight champions have had at least a share of the lead going into the final round. Over the last decade, only one other PGA TOUR event has had more champions who were at least tied for the lead entering the final round: The Wyndham Championship (nine of 10).
See: Perry's scorecard | Cabrera's scorecard

• Mike Weir, the 2003 Masters champion, looked to be in good position following the first round at the 2009 Masters when he shot a first-round 68, tying him for sixth. Unfortunately, Weir has been unable to get anything going since then. In the third round, Weir shot a 79, 11 shots off his first round score. That ties Weir's career high for difference between his first- and third-round score.
See: Weir's scorecard

• Padraig Harrington came into the Masters having won the last two majors. But Harrington's chances seemed to slip away Saturday on the par-5 second. Harrington made a nine on that hole, tying the worst par-5 score of his career. The only other time Harrington made a nine on a par 5 was at the 12th hole in the first round of the 2001 PGA Championship.
See: Harrington's scorecard

• Steve Stricker is playing in his 42nd major, but he has never been on a bogey-free streak like he is right now. Stricker's last bogey was on the first hole of the second round. His bogey-free streak of 35 holes is the longest of his career in a major tournament.
See: Stricker's scorecard