With the eyes of the golfing world on him Justin Rose totally crumbled under the pressure of the Masters late yesterday.
But Paul Casey did anything but. Trying to become the first Augusta debutant to win since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 - and only the fourth ever - the 26-year-old Englishman produced a brilliant 68 and will go into the final round in third place just two behind Americans Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco.
Rose, in stark contrast, collapsed to a nightmare 81 and now trails by nine - as does Tiger Woods after a second 75 of the week.
The dream of victory on only his second visit to the tournament turned into a horror story as 23-year-old Rose, two ahead at halfway, bogeyed his first three and six of his first nine holes.
By the time he reached turn in 42 Rose had fallen six strokes back and after he dropped further strokes at the 11th, 13th and 15th - that made it three bogey sixes in his round - he was down in joint 20th place.
DiMarco shot 68 and Mickelson 69 to take over at the top on the same six under par mark which Rose had reached after 36 holes.
Mickelson is trying to become the second left-hander in a row to win and to shake off the tag of "best current player never to win a major".
He has had no fewer than 17 top-10 finishes, including seven at Augusta. He has been third the last three years, but his putting and more cautious approach have put him in the position he is to put all his near-misses behind him.
Ryder Cup captain Bernhard Langer had a 69 to move into joint fourth place with Ernie Els and South Korean KJ Choi on three under.
Ireland's Padraig Harrington gave himself an outside chance, shooting a 68 to move to level par after surviving the cut with nothing to spare.
The Dubliner chipped in at the 10th and finished in superb fashion with a five-iron to 10 feet.
An even better round came from Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson, a 67 for a one under aggregate. He is now eighth on his first appearance.