Ireland's Padraig Harrington is just two shots off the Masters lead ahead of today's final round.  With halfway pacesetters Tim Clark and Brett Wetterich crashing to 80 and 83 respectively, Australian Stuart Appleby is the man out in front now.

But amazingly he sits on top of the leaderboard on two over par - by two strokes the highest 54-hole score that ever led the tournament in a history going back to 1934.

Appleby even plunged to a triple-bogey seven on the 17th and still ended the third round on top thanks to a 73.

"Augusta is a tough opponent - and will be tomorrow," he said. "We all know what we are in for."

In the cold, windy conditions on a course already rock hard the average score, hard though it is to believe, was over 77.

Retief Goosen's 70 was the low round of the day and, having made the cut with nothing to spare at eight over, he still has a chance, as do defending champion Phil Mickelson, Luke Donald and the others on six over.

Tiger Woods moved up from 15th to second with a 72 - and would have led on his own but for bogeying the last two holes just as he did in Thursday's first round.

Nevertheless, the world number one is poised now to challenge for a third successive major, his 13th in all and a fifth Masters victory in 11 years.

But he will have to do what he has not had to do for any of his previous 12 wins. Come from behind.

Justin Rose, meanwhile, took the lead when he birdied the 15th - a hole that saw Geoff Ogilvy take nine, Paul Casey eight and Harrington one of many sevens - but then bogeyed the 16th and 17th.

Yet a 75 was good enough to take the 26-year-old from fourth to joint second and in with a great chance of turning his bitter disappointment of his last visit three years ago - an 81 after being the halfway leader - into triumph this time.

Woods's move was ignited by birdies at the third, eighth and 13th. The 31-year-old had his first three-putt of the week at the 15th - for a par after making the green in two - but missed the fairway down the 17th and failed to get up and down from a plugged lie in the greenside bunker.

A perfect drive down the last was then wasted with an approach that came up badly short and after chipping 18 feet past the flag he could not salvage his par.

Asked if he had allowed the round to get away from him again Woods said: "Yeah. And then some.

"Quite frankly I didn't look at the leaderboards. I was just plodding along. It was one of the hardest rounds we've ever had here.

"You know if you make 18 pars you are going to move up the leaderboard. That's not usually the case."

Harrington pitched into the lake on the 15th but a wedge to three feet at the 17th enabled him to finish on a high and in joint fourth place with American Ryder Cup pair Vaughn Taylor and Zach Johnson.

"I just pushed it a little in the air," said the Dubliner of the 15th. "Then I missed a short putt for bogey as well, which wasn't great, but I did well over the last three.

"I never really looked at a leaderboard all day, but I will definitely take being only two behind."

He too, of course, is trying to end a European drought in the majors going back to Paul Lawrie's 1999 Open win.

"I did enjoy the day, no question about it and no matter what was happening. I was making an effort to do that because I knew that was going to give me the best chance of playing well."