JIM SLATER, Augusta | Sunday 2.30pm.
SOUTH Africa’s Ernie Els is four shots off the pace as Fiji’s Vijay Singh withstood gusting winds and bitter cold to grab a three-stroke lead at the 64th Masters.
Tiger Woods and Davis Love roared into contention from nine strokes off the pace.
Steady winds of 30-50 km/h with gusts to 67 km/h overwhelmed the field at Augusta National Golf Club. When darkness mercifully halted play, only eight golfers were sub-par at 2000’s first major tournament.
“I dealt with the weather well I guess,” Singh said. “That was one of the coldest rounds of golf I’ve played in a while. These were terrible conditions.”
Singh stood seven-under par through 14 holes, three strokes ahead of David Duval, four atop South African Els and clubhouse leader Loren Roberts and five in front of Phil Mickelson.
A third round that seemed as if it might never end has not for Singh and seven others in the top 10 who must finish early Sunday before the final round, thanks to a thunderstorm that suspended play for two hours.
Top-ranked Woods and 1997 PGA Championship winner Davis Love, playing early before breezes became brutal, each fired a four-under par 68 to stand with Canada’s Mike Weir at one-under 215, a shot ahead of Zimbabwe’s Nick Price.
“The wind was blowing pretty hard,” Woods said. “With the wind conditions, I just wanted to play a solid round. I just wanted to get back in the tournament. I didn’t want to feel I was completely out of it. I’m not out of it.”
Woods and Love will try to surpass the greatest weekend rally in Masters history, Jackie Burke’s comeback from eight strokes down in 1956. No Masters winner has been worse than 25th after 36 holes. Woods and Love shared 39th.
“The flags were blowing so loud it sounded like someone shooting a gun out there,” Love said. “They really got a bad break because it’s very tricky.”
The 17 players who began the round below par went a combined 53-over, with Singh and Roberts the only sub-par performers. The 20 who began play after the storm delay went a combined 67 over par. Only 10 men went sub-par for 18 holes.
Gusts played havoc with the leaders, their title hopes literally gone with the wind in a slide as long and painful to watch as Greg Norman’s final-round fade here in 1996 losing to Nick Faldo.
“I’m not going to feel sorry for them. In the course of playing major championships, sometimes you get funny draws and it doesn’t work out quite right. These guys aren’t really happy about their situation,” said Love.
Duval took a double bogey on the par-3 12th to fall behind Singh.
Price challenged but found water and a double bogey at the par-5 15th and had a bogey at 16 to finish on par 216. Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke struggled to a 78, and Justin Leonard a 77, to fall back.
South Africa’s Retief Goosen had five bogeys and a double bogey in the first 11 holes, while six-time winner Jack Nicklaus was eight-over 44 on the back nine for an 81, his worst score in 155 rounds at Augusta National since 1959.