By Matt Slater
England's Justin Rose will go into the final round at Augusta on Sunday only one off Stuart Appleby's Masters lead.
But the bad news for both men is that world number one Tiger Woods is there alongside Rose at three over.
Two shots behind Australian Appleby are Ireland's Padraig Harrington and US pair Zach Johnson and Vaughn Taylor.
Welsh debutant Bradley Dredge is alone on five over while England's Luke Donald and Phil Mickelson are in an eight-strong group on six over.
The fact that Mickelson, who shot a fighting 73, has a real chance of defending his title despite walking off the 18th thinking he would need something spectacular on Sunday says it all about a remarkable day at the famous Georgia course.
Only three players scored rounds of par or better and the best of those, a two-under 70, catapulted South Africa's Retief Goosen from having just made the cut to being within four of the 54-hole lead.
"It's not like I'm 100 back so I got a shot at it"
Time and time again somebody would look as though they were building some momentum only for the course to rise up and slap them down again.
Even Woods, who had been motoring along in his usual Saturday-at-a-major fashion, was prevented from matching Goosen's fine score by his second bogey-bogey finish in three days. All the same, his even-par 72 was enormously impressive in the circumstances.
"Augusta is a tough opponent, and will be tomorrow - we all know what we are in for"
In fact, all of the leading players suffered their own small Waterloos, it was just that they managed to deal with the setbacks better than the rest of the field.
Tim Clark and Brett Wetterich, the overnight co-leaders, carded an 80 and an 83 respectively. The average score for the day was 77.35.
The 35-year-old Appleby arguably suffered the worst of those still left standing when he carded a triple-bogey seven on the 17th to lose what had at that stage been a commanding two-shot lead.
But the Florida-based Aussie, who stormed into the lead thanks to three straight birdies from the 2nd, recovered well to reach the clubhouse without any further mishaps.
"Augusta is a tough opponent - and will be tomorrow," said Appleby. "We all know what we are in for."
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Rose, who recovered from a bogey-bogey start, also suffered down the stretch, missing short par putts on 16 and 17, but the 26-year-old knuckled down to par the last.
And Taylor, attempting to become the first local winner since Augustan Larry Mize triumphed in 1987, finished with three bogeys when it looked as though he might go into Sunday with an advantage.
Much of the mayhem occurred on the seemingly straightforward par-five 15th. It was here that Paul Casey's challenge came undone. In great shape at three over and only 90 yards from the pin in two the Englishman contrived to find the pond.
A triple-bogey ensued and two more bogeys followed. Geoff Ogilvy, the US Open champion, put two pitch shots in the wet stuff and followed that with three bogeys, so in some ways Casey got off lightly.
Harrington also managed to run up a double-bogey here having dumped his approach into the water. He triple-bogeyed the hole on Thursday and birdied it on Friday.
"I just pushed it a little in the air," he said. "Then I missed a short putt for bogey as well, which wasn't great, but I did well over the last three."
Indeed he did. His birdie at 17 was an awesome response and the 35-year-old Dubliner has got to be in with a good shout of a first major title.
As has Donald, whose late mistakes were a bogey at 16 and double at the last. The Chicago-based star, who finished third two years ago, was playing some beautiful golf on the back nine until that point but he has the game to break Europe's eight-year drought in golf's biggest events.
Other players to come through the US Open-like test with credit were South African Rory Sabbatini, who shot a 73 to join the pack on six over, England's Lee Westwood, who carded a 72, and American David Toms, whose 73 was a fine comeback after a bad back nine on Friday.
But huge praise must go to the 33-year-old Dredge. Three shots may have gone over the last six holes but regardless of what happens in the final round the man from Tredegar has taken a major step forward this week.
He plays alongside the two-time US Open champion Goosen on Sunday, just behind Mickelson and Sabbatini and in front of Taylor and Johnson, who should also be commended for his gutsy play after a painful end to his second round.
Rose plays with Harrington, a pairing which should help both - right in the mix but not head-to-head with Woods, an experience that few have enjoyed in majors on Sundays.
That honour goes to Appleby, who will be attempting to become the first player from Down Under to win the Masters.
Perhaps he will be inspired by the fact that the winner at Augusta has come from the final pairing for the last 16 years and Woods has never won a major he was not leading after 54 holes.
"He won't even know I'm there," said Appleby, who lost to Ernie Els in a play-off at the 2002 Open. "I'm sure I'll know he's there. He will be the other guy."
Rose, Harrington, Dredge and Donald will be holding on to the fact that England's Nick Faldo was the last man to win from outside that last group, while Woods probably will not be worried at all.
He knows he has played three fairly average rounds by his standards and a 13th major title and fifth Green Jacket is just a slight improvement away.
As the great man said: "I'm looking forward to having an opportunity to win the championship. It's not like I'm 100 back so I got a shot at it."
Some shot.
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~58~RS~)