Hoffman’s splash on 16th hole costs him lead

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Charley Hoffman led for most of the tournament. Then came the 16th hole, 170-yard par three. He missed his shot just by a little. It ended in the water, and with it his share of the lead.

“The swing on 16, it happens,” Hoffman said of his double bogey. “It was a bad one. I was able to regroup and make a couple pars coming in. Two birdie looks. But I’m happy. I’m two back. I’ve been playing good golf and I’m really happy with where I’m at.”

Hoffman maintains his confidence.

“If I play my game tomorrow,” he said, “I think I got a good chance.”

Hoffman will be playing with Ryan Moore in the second-to-last group of the day.

Starting the Day

Jason Day had the good fortune to be the first one on the course on Saturday, playing with a marker. He had a round of 69 leaving him three over for the tournament.

“I think that I feel like I can actually play golf again, which is great, when I play like that,” Day said. “I kind of let things go a little bit in the middle part of my round with not really capitalizing on the opportunities I had. Seven and eight especially. But for the most part, birdieing 12 through 15 was pretty good.”

He used exceptional iron play, leaving him short putts for birdie. And, if not for a couple of unfortunate short misses, he would have really tamed Augusta National.

He started with a bogey on two, missing a two footer. He birdied three by making a four footer. Back to a bogey on four missing an excruciating eight-inch putt. He followed that up with an 11-inch birdie putt on the par three sixth.

Then he caught fire birdieing 12-15, making putts of six feet, 10 inches, six feet and three feet. He gave a shot back on 17 when he mis-hit his second shot and then his approach was still 17 feet from the pin.

Better conditions

Brant Snedeker had the rare bogey free round on Saturday as he climbed back to two over for the tournament. He had three birdies for a 69, playing in the morning.

He credits the improvement in the weather.

“Yeah, it’s good to actually have the golf course with manageable conditions today,” Snedeker said. “Even though it’s still tough and in front of you, I was able to kind of miss greens in the right spots now and try and use your experience around here a little bit better.

“The course is perfect. Perfect conditions. We had not a lot of wind, greens are kind of still receptive this morning, so you were able to kind of go out there and be more aggressive than you have been.”

Tiger returning?

Tiger Woods made barely a peep during his early-week visit to Augusta National, attending the Champions Dinner and declining interview requests. Whether he’d ever tee it up at the Masters, or any majors, became debate fodder for golf fans.

Well, the first shred of encouraging news in a while came from Woods’ close friend, Notah Begay, who said on the “Rich Eisen Show” that Woods could return from injury next month.

“Maybe something just after the Players Championship,” Begay said of the May 11-14 event, adding of the U.S. Open in June, at Erin Hills in Wisconsin, “Oh, it’s a definite possibility. That’s probably the event that’s circled on his calendar.”

Woods hasn’t teed it up since re-injuring his back in February.