Trailing the leader by eight strokes before Saturday's third round, defending Masters champion Phil Mickelson needed to do something to put himself back in contention.
It didn't happen. He gained one stroke and is 3 under entering the final round.
He trails Rory McIlroy by nine strokes, a deficit overcome by one winner in Masters history: Jack Burke, who came from nine down within the last round to win in 1956.
However, Mickelson hasn't lost hope.
"I'm going to be quite a few back, but on Sunday a lot can happen," he said. "I'm going to go tonight and do whatever work I need to give myself the best round, a hot round tomorrow. I've shot low scores here before.
"I believe I can do it again, and I'm going to give myself every opportunity tomorrow to do that."
Mickelson blamed the putter for his issues Saturday. He needed 31 putts after hitting 33 on Friday and 29 on Thursday for a 31 per-round average. He said he's uncharacteristically having trouble reading the greens and gauging their speeds.
With his history as a three-time champ, combined with how well he putted in winning last week's Shell Houston Open, he thought he would replicate last year's success of averaging 29 putts per round. Each time he has won, he averaged no more than 29.25 putts per round.
Though it's unlikely he will win the tournament for the second consecutive year, he still has a sense of humor.
He pushed his drive so far left on No. 1 that his ball landed in the ninth fairway. As he walked through the gallery, Mickelson said "It's all about the angles," to the approving patrons.
Anniversary win?
South African Charl Schwartzel is 8 under, four strokes behind. As much as he would like to win the Masters on the 50th anniversary of countryman Gary Player's breakthrough win, he just wants to win, he said.
"I'll take it even if it wasn't his anniversary," he said.
Player's victory was the first by a South African in the tournament. Player would go on to win nine majors, including the Masters three times.
Garcia starts fast, crashes
Sergio Garcia, once hailed as the next big thing in golf after finishing second to Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship in 1999, continued his recent stumbles in majors.
He started well Saturday, reaching 7 under with three birdies by the sixth hole, but he said he mentally checked out on No. 9, which he parred, and the scorecard showed the results.
He bogeyed 10, doubled 11 and bogeyed 12 to give back everything he gained and then some. But he wasn't done. He bogeyed 14 and 18 to complete the disappointment and will start Sunday at 1 under.
"It's a work in progress, and we need to get better at it and there's been some good positive things, and unfortunately today it's been a really bad nine," he said.
Holes of the day
No. 1 was the hardest hole of the day. The golfers navigated the 445-yard par-4 in an average of 4.327 strokes. It surrendered two birdies, 16 bogeys and one double. The wind was blowing into the golfers most of the day.
No. 13 was the easiest for the second consecutive day. The golfers navigated the 510-yard par-5 in an average of 4.531 strokes Saturday after averaging 4.576 strokes Friday. The hole surrendered three eagles and 25 birdies.
Low amateur
By virtue of making the cut, Japan's Hideki Matsuyama is guaranteed to be the low amateur. With that honor comes the Silver Cup. He said he nervously watched the tournament on the Internet on Friday to see if his two-day total of 145 would be enough to make the weekend field. Turned out, it was exactly enough.
Matsuyama, 19, is the first Japanese amateur to play in the Masters. He shot a 3-under 68 on Saturday after a 72 on Thursday and 73 on Friday.
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