Birdie charge by Woods ensures a day of major drama

The Masters: World No 1 sets up final round with superlative 66 on Saturday as he refuses to give up chance of third successive title without a fight

Shortly after six o'clock on Saturday as the shadows lengthened on a perfect spring day, Tiger Woods holed a putt from 40 feet at the sixth hole and marched off the green with his fist clenched and arm raised in triumph. This was the second putt of the day from Woods which ensured the third day at the Masters would be remembered for what happened inside the gates of Augusta National and not outside.

With this putt Woods squeezed on to the leaderboard for the first time in the tournament. With another tap-in birdie at the next, Tiger left himself only four strokes behind Jeff Maggert, who claimed the third-round lead by matching the world No 1's 66.

Much earlier in the day, Woods got up and down from a bunker at the ninth, holing a none-too-pleasant four-footer down the hill in the process, to ensure he made the halfway cut. At that point none of the other 48 players still alive in the event were behind him. By the end of the day only four players were in front of Woods.

In his brilliant third round, Woods passed as many people as turned up to support Martha Burk's campaign for women to be admitted as members of Augusta National. The rally at a site half a mile down the road from the gates of the club attracted fringe elements like an Elvis impersonator and a member of the Ku Klux Klan and far more media than protesters. There were also more police than media and protesters put together.

Back on the grounds a dramatic major championship was unfolding. Woods kept alive his streak of consecutive cuts made, now at 102 tournaments, by making the cut on the mark – at five over – for only the fourth time in his career. Of those who finished on the cut line, only three broke par in the third round, including Justin Rose with a 71. Only Woods broke 70, his scorecard being the only one in the third round not to contain a bogey. His 66 matched his third round a year ago. Then he had pulled himself up to tie for the lead and play in the final pairing with Retief Goosen.

He could not quite manage that again but he came from a more perilous position. Tiger likes his Saturdays at the Masters, his third round in 1997, a 65, confirming him not just as a prodigy but the genuine article who would eventually win the tournament by 12 strokes.

As a player who takes on history as much as his fellow competitors, Woods had his hands full yesterday. In trying to win an unprecedented third consecutive green jacket, Woods would have to be the first player at Augusta to have recovered from an opening score as high as 76 and from 11 strokes behind the leader at the halfway stage. The biggest comeback in a major was from 13 back after 36 holes by George Duncan in the 1920 Open at Royal Cinque Ports in Deal, Kent.

No winner of the Masters had come from outside the final pairing for 13 years, while all of Tiger's eight previous major victories had come with him either leading or tied for the 54-hole lead. Three times before, including the USPGA at Hazeltine last August, he had been in a similar position just behind the leader.

One of Tiger's greatest strengths, however, is that he never gets ahead of himself. Winning his third successive Masters was not in his mind. "I just go out there and play to win the tournament," he said. "It doesn't enter your mind. I'm trying to win the tournament and everything else will take care of itself." The comeback trend was started by Ernie Els, whose own 66 in the second round repaired most of the damage of his opening 79. Luck went for and against the Open champion in the third round. He holed his second shot for an eagle at the par-four seventh and, after a birdie at the next, was as high as one under par.

But at the 14th he again also holed out from the fairway but his approach spun off the flagstick off the front of the green. Though Els finished at one over par, the seven players at par or better included four major champions. Vijay Singh and David Toms were at two under, three behind Maggert, and Jose Maria Olazabal was alongside Woods, as was Phil Mickelson.

It was Mickelson's fellow left-hander, the Canadian Mike Weir, who had led for most of the day before stumbling around Amen Corner and then dropping two late shots to fall two behind Maggert. The 39-year-old Texan birdied five of the last six holes and had only 21 putts during his round.

British interest at the top of the leaderboard disappeared late in the day as Darren Clarke and Paul Lawrie both collapsed. Clarke, the first-round leader with a 66, added rounds of 76 and 78 and took a nine at the par-five 13th. Lawrie, who was briefly in second place, had a triple at the 13th, after twice finding the creek, and a double at the 12th.

Ricky Barnes, the US Amateur champion, kept up his challenge until he came home in 40 in the third round. Until then the 22-year-old Californian, who is still at college, had acted as if he could win the tournament. "Ricky is dumb enough to believe he can win," confirmed his brother and caddy, Andy.

Jack Nicklaus, who had his worst-ever round of 85 in the first round on Friday, said he would not play next year if there were similar conditions. "I don't want to clutter up the field as I did this year," said the Bear.