If all the brouhaha about rulings and misinterpretations of the rules cast a shadow of sorts over the third round, with world number one Tiger Woods starting his work on Saturday with a two shot additional penalty for dropping his ball in the wrong spot in the previous day's second round, there was sufficient manoeuvring in actual competition thereafter to deflect attention away from his misdemeanours and the rights and wrongs of the retrospective penalty.
On a wonderfully sunny day, the 77th US Masters here at Augusta National saw comings and goings atop the leader-board. And if 36-hole leader Jason Day struggled coming home, picking up bogeys at the final two holes, the upshot of a mesmerising day's golf was that the Aussie - although transformed into the role of pursuer - was still very much in the hunt.
As things transpired, Brandt Snedeker - fit again after his recent travails with a rib injury - and an old maestro in Angel Cabrera jointly shared the 54-hole lead, each shooting rounds of 69 to lie tied on 209, seven-under-par, heading into the final round.
The joint-leaders held a one shot lead Aussie Adam Scott, with two other Aussies - Day and Marc Leishman - locked in tied-fourth on 211, five-under. All to play for!
Indeed, this Masters developed into a logjam, with 13 players within five shots of the lead. Sadly for Rory McIlroy, it proved to be a third round that promised more than it delivered.
The Ulsterman was on the fringes of contention as he headed into Amen Corner and the back nine: however, a triple bogey seven on the 11th, where he pushed his drive into the trees and, then, after playing a recovery, hit his approach into the water, proved costly. Further damage was inflicted on him when he ran up a double bogey seven on the 15th on his way to a 79, for 221, that dropped him down to tied-44th and some way removed from the real action.
"The margins are very small on this course and when you get on the wrong side of some of these slopes, you can't help but get a penalty," said McIlroy, looking for whatever comfort he could find from the situation. "It's disappointing, especially after the good start. I feel like I was playing well and it's just frustrating."
For his part, Woods - who avoided being disqualified for his ball dropping misdemeanour on Friday which only came to light after a TV viewer raised concerns and, later, a CBS official contacted Augusta National's Fred Ridley to alert him that Woods himself seemed to confirm a wrong ball drop in his post-round interview - put the rules infractions sufficiently behind him to post a third round 70, for 213, that put him very much in the mix.
"I didn't see anything and he didn't tell me anything that would lead me to believe that he knowingly violated the rule," explained Ridley, chairman of the tournament committee, in explaining why Woods wasn't disqualified and, instead, was sanctioned with the two shot penalty before he went out for the third round.
Woods managed to get into contention with an impressive stretch on the run home, with birdies on the 12th, 13th and 15th holes. "I'm right there in the ballgame. As of right now I'm four back with a great shot to win this championship," he said.
Snedeker, the dominant player early in the season until sustaining a rib injury, remarked: "It has been (like) two seasons, I guess, is the best way to put it. The first part of the season, I was healthy, playing great, nothing was wrong. And then I got hurt and had to start pretty much from scratch again. . . . the momentum is back, I feel like my golf swing is getting back to the way it was. My short game is in really good stead and I'm excited. I'm fresh mentally and physically fresh. This is what I've worked my whole life for."
For Cabrera, there is something about the azaleas and dogwoods that bring out the best in the Argentinian. Having bogeyed the Par 5 13th and then failed to birdie the Par 5 15th, Cabrera showed his resilience and fortitude to rescue matters with birdies on the 16th and 18th to join Snedeker at the top and go in search of a third career Major.
