Woods, Mickelson can’t make moves

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The pressure was off Tiger Woods. He wasn’t going to win the Masters. And so the smiles returned as he made his way around Augusta National in the third round Saturday.

Woods still couldn’t dial in his iron shots well enough to score better than an evenpar 72 to stand in a tie for 40th at four over, but it was his best score of the week, and he seemed to enjoy the effort.

When Woods hit a good iron shot and found the green at the par-three 12th, he grinned and raised both arms in mock triumph. He then made like an umpire and signaled “safe.” He hit into Rae’s Creek in the first two rounds to make bogey. The crowd loved it. “How about that? You know, I just couldn’t do it three days in a row,” Woods joked. “I gave it a little bit more gas on it and made sure that I was long if I did miss, and I hit a good one in there.

“You know, it’s a lot easier to play the hole from the green than it is dropping.”

Woods missed the 11-foot birdie putt, and that was indicative of his week.

When he hit the ball close, he couldn’t make putts. And too many other times he wasn’t able to get close enough to the pin for realistic birdie chances.

Through three rounds, Woods had only eight birdies, and he carded only three birdies with two bogeys on the par-fives.

“Hopefully I can hit my irons better,” Woods said. “It’s been scratchy this week.”

Asked whether he knew what was troubling his swing, Woods said, “I know what the problem is. I’m struggling trying to fix it on the fly and trusting it.”

Mickelson struggles

Unlike Woods, Phil Mickelson didn’t find any humor in his round. His game was simply too erratic to provide much solace.

It was ugly from the beginning Saturday, with Mickelson badly hooking a drive into the right trees at No. 1. When he tried to punch out, he whiffed on the shot, not coming close to touching the ball. He made contact the second time, missed the green and eventually suffered a triple-bogey 7 en route to shooting a two-over 74 to be at seven over.

A disconsolate Mickelson said, “I don’t have it. It’s frustrating being out there. But it’s still Augusta. I’m trying to make do. But it’s just frustrating being out there when you know you don’t have a chance.”

Spain on the board

The Masters has clearly been the favored major for

Spaniards, with Seve Ballesteros, Jose Maria Olazabal and then Sergio Garcia last year claiming a green jacket.

Enter Jon Rahm, the 23year-old from Spain who could take a Masters at some point. He already has reached No. 3 in the world, and in his second visit to Augusta he will play in the second-to-last group Sunday.

Rahm got there by firing a bogey-free seven-underpar 65. He’s six strokes behind leader Patrick Reed at eight under.

“Maybe the Spanish character and the Spanish game is built for this place, right?” Rahm said.

Notable

The first two days of Masters coverage on ESPN averaged 3.5 million viewers, up 46% from 2017 and the highest two-day average since 2013 (also 3.5 million).