Posted by Jason Sobel
Tell me if this sounds familiar: Weather delays are incurred at The Masters. The third round has to be completed on Sunday morning. Tiger Woods wakes up with 27 holes to play and four strokes behind the leader.
OK, so this time around Woods is only three back of Chad Campbell, but the script entering the final day at Augusta National is eerily similar to that of last year's Masters, when Tiger overtook Chris DiMarco with a birdie barrage on Sunday morning -- leading by three strokes when the third round was completed -- and later won the fourth green jacket of his career.
Will history repeat itself? Well, there's no reason to count out the world's top-ranked player by any means, but Woods does have a little more competition this time around. Though Campbell leads at 6 under through four holes in his third round, there are 17 players within five strokes of him, meaning the year's first major championship is up for grabs heading into the final day.
While you never know which players are going to eat their Wheaties on Sunday morning and which ones will wake up on the wrong side of the bed, here's one man's attempt to handicap the field before the third round resumes (players listed in order of their position on the leaderboard).
Chad Campbell (-6 through 4): You had to be impressed at the way Campbell started his third round. After sleeping on the 36-hole lead, then sitting around pondering that notion all day in the locker room, he calmly went out and made birdie on each of his first two holes on Saturday. Perhaps that's when the nerves started getting to him a bit, as he bogeyed the next two. The sound of the horn stopped the bleeding, but you've got to wonder about Campbell's mental state heading into the final day. There are a lot of players who would rather come from behind than play as the pace-setter. That said, he's still got the best score right now, so you've got to give him a decent chance to pull this thing out.
Odds to win: 6-to-1
Tim Clark (-5 through 5): The leaderboard doesn't reflect it, but Clark will begin his day with a 5-foot birdie putt on the sixth hole that could tie him for the lead. Not sure if the thought went through his mind, but electing to mark his ball rather than finishing out the hole meant that he wouldn't be the co-leader entering Sunday and could serve as a needless weight lifted from his mind. Of course, you've got to wonder when the course's length will catch up to Clark, who's a notably short hitter. And notice I wrote "when" and not "if."
Odds to win: 8-to-1
Rocco Mediate (-5 through 4): It's been a magic carpet ride for Rocco so far this week, but Augusta National traditionally isn't kind to underdogs. Remember that Sesame Street song with the lyrics, "Which one of these things doesn't belong?" Well, Mediate is the only non-elite player near the top of this leaderboard. Hey, we like the guy and it'll be a great story if he wins, but can a guy who was missing cuts at Phoenix and Bay Hill really be this year's Masters champion?
Odds to win: 15-to-1
Tiger Woods (-3 through 9): There is no player more physically and mentally fit than Woods and both traits are going to be much needed on such a pressure-packed day. While expecting Tiger to reel off seven straight birdies -- as he did in last year's interrupted third round -- is a stretch, you know he's going to be in the mix when it's all said and done.
Odds to win: 5-to-2
Padraig Harrington (-2 through 6): It's somewhat surprising to see Harrington this high on the leaderboard. He's a solid player who's been a major contender in the past, but recently admitted that he's been fighting his swing lately. Harrington looks as if he's adopted a much wider putting stance; wonder how that'll hold up under final-day pressure?
Odds to win: 8-to-1
Phil Mickelson (-3 through 5): Talk all you'd like about driving distance, iron accuracy and putting, but there is no virtue more important than patience when it comes to winning major championships. Mickelson practiced this skill in winning both the '04 Masters and last year's PGA Championship, but his riverboat-gambler style left him with zero pars in five holes played on Saturday. After making three birdies to start his round, Lefty followed with two bogeys. He's going to need to understand that par is his friend coming down the stretch.
Odds to win: 4-to-1
Stephen Ames (-2 through 9): Stephen Ames!? Isn't he on vacation this week? Very, very quietly the Players Championship winner has put himself into position to contend at another big event. He's a fairways-and-greens type of player, which could mean good things, though his lack of experience on this course (only one previous Masters start) will be a hindrance.
Odds to win: 10-to-1
Retief Goosen (-2 through 9): The thing about Goose is he's right in the thick of this thing and yet, he hasn't played very well. Seems like every time the TV cameras have cut to the two-time U.S. Open champ over the past three days, he's been punching out from the Georgia pines or hitting a wedge from the pine straw. Which could mean two things: Either he continues his poor play and his score starts to suffer, or he finally finds his swing and really prospers. Anybody's guess, but I like the latter.
Odds to win: 5-to-1
Ernie Els (-2 through 5): He's hitting the ball well, but you've got to wonder whether the slick turf will be giving his recently reconstructed knee any problems. The green jacket has eluded him for so many years, but he's going to win one someday, so why not Sunday?
Odds to win: 4-to-1
Vijay Singh (-2 through 4): The 2000 Masters champion played his first 15 holes of the week in 5 under, but has since followed by playing the next 25 holes in 3 over. That's not a good sign, but Vijay's always been known as a solid finisher. His recent efforts to step up his workout routine should pay off immensely, too.
Odds to win: 9-to-2
Fred Couples (-2 through 5): If the course starts playing tough, if the pressure starts building, if the winning score is only going to be a few strokes under par, then look for Couples to be right there. With 22 Masters starts, he's got more experience than anyone else in contention and knows all the nooks and crannies of Augusta National. He'll also have the galleries behind him all the way, which could help to motivate some birdies from that long putter of his. One note of caution: For a good player with a notoriously bad back, playing 30 holes in one day seems like tempting fate.
Odds to win: 5-to-1
Miguel Angel Jimenez (-1 through 17): The Spaniard has an advantage in that he only needs to complete his final hole in the third round, then can relax -- maybe light up one of his famous stogies? -- and play the waiting game on the practice range until the final round begins. That said, he hasn't shown much fire in previous major championships, so consider him a longshot.
Odds to win: 15-to-1
Mike Weir (-1 through 11): He's been there, done that, so Weirsy knows what it takes to win the green jacket. Some may say that a wet, unforgiving course will play too long for him, but remember, back when he won in '03, Augusta National had seen plenty of rain, too. Weir's a mudder, but is five shots too many to get back?
Odds to win: 8-to-1
Scott Verplank (-1 through 9): Anyone who putts as well as Verplank has a shot. Following an opening-round 74, he's made only one bogey in the last 27 holes. A steady player, the closer the leading score is to par, the better off he'll be.
Odds to win: 12-to-1
Billy Mayfair (-1 through 7): Billy Mayfair? Masters champion? Nah ...
Odds to win: 18-to-1
Nick O'Hern (-1 through 6): This Aussie southpaw is one of the straightest hitters and best putters around. Nothing really seems to faze O'Hern, who once defeated Woods in the Match Play. Could be a decent dark horse who gets overlooked.
Odds to win: 14-to-1
Darren Clarke (-1 through 6): He's been Steady Eddie for the first 2½ days, somehow remaining in contention depsite making only three birdies and one eagle so far in 42 holes. Clarke's playing the par-3 holes in 2 over this week, though, which might not bode well when he heads to Nos. 12 and 16 two more times each.
Odds to win: 14-to-1
The rest of the field: How'd you like to be Jim Furyk right now? Playing in the first group off on Saturday (he used an Augusta National member as a marker), Furyk finished his round of 4-under 68 and gets to sleep in, then watch how the course is playing while everyone ahead of him is in for a long day. Ditto Angel Cabrera and Mark Hensby. Sure, they're longshots right now, but crazier things have happened.
Odds to win: 20-to-1
