Tod Leonard reminds us that Jim Mackay deserves plenty of credit for his work as Phil Mickelson's caddy, something we'd appreciate more if a certain announcer wasn't talking all over the Mackay-Mickelson conversations Sunday.

I guess I can see Steve Elling's point in praising Billy Payne's unexpected Tiger smackdown, even though I don't think he was the one to deliver the message.

One New York writer said Payne was a hypocrite, but he missed the bigger point. Unlike PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, who has said nary a word condemning the destructive actions of his top breadwinner, Payne felt strongly enough about Woods' tabloid-filling actions to make a strong stand, knowing full well that ANGC's policies and history would again be called into question. For that, I give the club even more credit.

Mark Cannizzaro offers yet another example that the criticism of Tiger is growing more pointed by the day:

Mickelson's stock is decidedly up; Woods' stock is down.

Mickelson has everything right now; Woods has nothing but his money.

Mickelson is the most embraced figure in the sport; Woods has become toxic.

Mickelson has won two Masters since 2006; Woods has not won one since 2005.

Mickelson is revered; Woods is ridiculed.

Mickelson is wanted as a guest on all the late-night talk shows; Woods is the most popular butt of the jokes being told on the late-night talk shows.

Mickelson comes off as a real human being who cares as he looks people in the eyes, signs autographs and interacts with them; Woods comes off as unapproachable and enigmatic with a constant force-field of handlers surrounding him and keeping everyone at bay.

Mickelson is a big tipper, appreciative and generous with the millions of dollars he makes; Woods, the first billionaire in sports, is notoriously cheap.

So it seems cruel that Mickelson, who seemingly has everything in life, has been forced to struggle with cancer in his family.

Woods, on the other hand, would appear to have everything yet right now he seems to have nothing.

Elling also offered this in his all-Masters Up and Down column that also includes a funny Urban Meyer story:

In case you missed it, there was a telling incident -- actually, two of them -- on the same hole during the crucial moments of the final round that underscored all anybody needs to know about the mental wiring of the game's two greatest active players. Standing on the right side the 11th hole, a fan was hit hard in the left shoulder by Woods' sliced tee shot, leaving a large red mark. Woods wandered into the trees, never asked what had happened, and scraped out a par. Not 10 minutes later, Mickelson's tee shot hit a fan standing right next to the man Woods had plunked. Mickelson asked if anybody was hurt, and when he found the fan he had nicked, signed a golf glove and gave it to his unwitting victim. When asked if the fan said anything, Mickelson cracked, "Ouch?" Small wonder that the majority of the populace seemed to be rooting harder for Lefty on Sunday.

And Ron Kroichick joins the ever-expanding Tiger &^%$ list:

-- Quick conclusion based on Woods' first tournament in five months: He hasn't changed at all. He's still hot-tempered on the course and still a picture of narcissism off it.

One example: Saturday, after his third-round 70, he was asked if he could appreciate how cool a Masters this was becoming, given Watson and Couples and Mickelson's back-to-back eagles. The question was prefaced with, "I know you're preoccupied with your game, but ..."

Woods stared stoically ahead and replied, "There's a lot going on. I'm four back."

It's all about Tiger, all the time.

Preston Sparks follows up with the owner of the banner-flying business cited by the FAA at Augusta, who reveals he also got a call from the club.

Besides the FAA inspection, Miller said, "I had the Masters calling me personally begging what it would take to make the airplane to go away."

A club spokesman confirmed Tuesday that a call was made to Miller,  requesting  he not fly over anymore because the banners weren't in good taste.

Seems they got the plane back up and flying around Augusta yesterday with new banners.

Bill Simmons, who yesterday had visions of Billy Payne and Jim Nantz making out, interviews Nantz on his podcast and Nantz tells some great 1986 Masters stories. He also brings up the way Butler Cabin turns Nantz to "JELLO."

Nice to see the scribblers focusing their day after reflections on the players, the historical context of Phil's win, Lee Westwood's sportsmanship and Tiger's performance.

One last lede, from the hometown paper's David Westin in the Augusta Chronicle:

Phil Mickelson had plenty of thrills left in his game after all. The chill bumps came later during an embrace with his wife, Amy, who is battling breast cancer and made a rare appearance to watch her husband win the 74th Masters Tournament and his third green jacket.

It doesn't really matter in the big scheme of things, but Phil moves to No. 2 in the world.

PHIL

Scott Michaux on the three-time champion:

The last year has been a draining blur for the Mickelsons with surgeries and treatments and daily medications that sap the energy out of a firecracker of a woman.

But their indomitable spirit prevails and continues to lift them to extraordinary moments like Sunday.
"We're just kind of figuring out the new normal," she said. "Hopefully we'll get back some of the old normal at some point."

The old normal has never left Mickelson inside (and not-infrequently outside) the ropes. His gambling nature remains a hallmark of his game.

Doug Ferguson for AP:

So, a tournament that started with the focus on a man who com mitted serial adultery, ended with a victory celebration that was much more family friendly.

Richard Williams in The Guardian:

It has always been easy for a European to snigger at Phil with his college-boy lope, his permanent goofy smile and his white-bread aura, and to dismiss Amy as the archetype of the perfectly formed, orthodontically corrected blondes who parade alongside their husbands at the opening ceremony of the Ryder Cup every other year. It has taken a dose of serious misfortune to make us realise that the Mickelsons are more than Barbie and Ken in golfing gear.

Rob Hodgetts for the BBC:

Phil Mickelson is the man Tiger Woods vowed to become.

Mickelson proved that you can be a class act and still win. The contrast between the pair could not be more stark.

Woods, emerging from a self-imposed break following his sex scandal, said at the beginning of the week that he would mend his ways. That he would be more aware of those around him, that he would treat the game with more respect. If wins came along, fine, but they would be irrelevant if he was not a better man. The jury is still out as to whether he has begun to change for the better.

But Mickelson is the total package. A family man, loved by fans for genuinely engaging with them, a brilliant player, an accomplished winner.

Ron Kroichick notes this:

Along the way, Mickelson showed that early-season form doesn't matter as much as comfort on Augusta National's sloping fairways and tricky greens. He posted only one top-10 in his first seven starts this year, then abruptly hopped to life when the stakes were highest.

Garry Smits has a similar thought:

To put a fine point on it: Augusta National lets Phil be Phil. Unlike a U.S. Open or British Open set-up (the two majors he hasn't won), Mickelson can afford a few mistakes that can result from the gambles he likes to take.

If the gambles happen at Winged Foot in 2006, it costs Mickelson a U.S. Open. At Augusta National, he scrambles and makes miracles happen.

"I am very relaxed at Augusta National because you don't have to be perfect," he said after his 72nd hole birdie put the finishing touches on a 16-under-par 272, three shots clear of Lee Westwood. "I hit a lot of great shots, but I made some bad swings and I was able to salvage par. I was able to get the ball, advance it far enough down by the green, where my short game could take over. That's why I feel so comfortable here."

Phillip Reid writes:

As Billy Foster remarked afterwards, his man Lee Westwood forced to play second-fiddle, he thought he had seen the greatest player – in terms of genius and creativity – when Seve Ballesteros was at his height. Now, he has revised those thoughts: Phil Mickelson, in his view, is The Man!

PHIL AND LEE

Lawrence Donegan in The Guardian:

Very few who watched Phil Mickelson's final-day 67, a mesmerising combination of the outrageous and the simply fantastic, could argue that the wrong man won and the self-aware Englishman was not about to make such a case. "Fair and square," he said of the left-hander's third victory at Augusta National. "Sixty seven generally wins major championships when people are there or thereabouts going into the last round. Phil hit good shots when he needed to around the back nine. That's what great champions do."

James Lawton on Westwood's class:

He didn't unravel this time, he just slugged it out with a man who, when the golfing muse settles on his shoulders, is capable of producing some of the most arresting, improbable shot-making we are ever likely to see.

Indeed, Westwood took defeat at the highest level of the game in the manner to which over the last few years we have become accustomed. He took it as another of those blows that can make a man who may be destined, one day, to be a champion strong at the latest broken place.

And finally, Clay Travis tweeted this image of Phil going through the Krispy Kreme drive thru Monday morning…in his green jacket!

TIGER

Randall Mell on Tiger:

For a guy who so rigorously guards his privacy, the intensifying scrutiny must be grating as he makes his way back from the public disgrace of his sex scandal. This, after all, is a guy who hated the excessive analysis of his golf swing. Imagine what the probing analysis of his character, integrity and very soul must be doing to him.

Woods’ seven days in the public eye at the Masters must have felt like a lifetime.

Bill Simmons at ESPN.com weighs in on Tiger and Masters observations:

The first: After Tiger birdied the 72nd hole, Jim Nantz said that Tiger had "somehow managed a 69 out of all of this," followed by me giggling like Beavis and Butt-Head for the next 30 seconds. Tiger's week at Augusta couldn't have ended any other way.

The second: After Phil Mickelson's winning putt, when he was hugging his cancer-stricken wife and both of them were crying, I glanced over to the Sports Gal -- the same person who once cried during a 30-second Michael Jordan commercial -- and, of course, she was crying, only she decided to sum up her feelings by saying, "I hate Tiger Woods."

The third: Ten minutes after the tournament ended, Masters chairman Billy Payne hopped off his high horse, stood in front of the fireplace at Butler Cabin and greeted the CBS audience. I always find myself ignoring whatever he's saying and staring instead at the cabin, which looks like it was hastily put together by "Saturday Night Live" set designers between commercials after the final putt. Over the fireplace (which never has a fire going), sandwiched between bouquets of red azaleas, there's a color portrait of a golfer from the 1930s or 1940s (I think it's Bobby Jones) finishing a swing while wearing a hot yellow sweater. You can also kind of see a plant. And there's a beige door over Payne's left shoulder. It's one of the least interesting cabins ever.

And yet, the cabin always turns Nantz to jello. This year, Payne made his opening remarks and brought in his "good friend Jim Nantz," who came in sheepishly for a handshake. Payne congratulated him on a "great week and a wonderful, wonderful 25 years" while continuing the handshake, then putting his left hand on Nantz's hand for an emotional two-handed handshake. Nantz immediately responded by putting his left hand on Payne's right arm and said, "I appreciate that, what a day this was," and for a second, I thought they were going to start making out. Which, by the way, would have been awesome.

He also has some tough words for Billy Payne.

James Corrigan on Tiger's week:

On the Tuesday another affair emerged; on Wednesday the Augusta chairman Billy Payne scolded him in a prepared statement; on Thursday all the talk centred on the ill-considered Nike advertisement which featured his dead father talking from beyond the grave; on Friday arrived pictures from one of his mistresses' nearby striptease acts; on Saturday he was pilloried on the US's most famous entertainment show; on Sunday the American networks felt obliged to apologise for his cursing. And then came what should be the most important factor – the golf.

Little wonder Woods was surly in his post-round interview, saying in reference to his on-course strops: "People are making way too much of a big deal about this."

Brian Murphy says Tiger is "as pissed off as ever."

Just days after pledging to be reborn a warm and fuzzy golfer, Tiger Woods left Augusta National on Sunday evening prickly, angry, fussy and cranky. Nowhere near that list were the words “warm” or “fuzzy.”

This, after a nearly miraculous week of golf, taking five months of inactivity and a spin-cycle of a ride through sport’s most publicly humiliating wringer of a sex scandal, and coming out on the other side with a tie for fourth at the Masters, a brilliant 11-under total score, and damn near scaring an epic run at a green jacket.

He should have been, like all of us, blown away at how well he played, overly grateful for an overly receptive gallery, and focused on the concepts he has preached since he started showing his face in public the last month: being centered, being balanced, having fun again, and worrying less about winning and more about being a better man.

Mark Lamport-Stokes on Tiger's behavior and where he might play next:

The May 6-9 Players Championship at the PGA Tour's headquarters in Florida is a virtual certainly, given its status as the unofficial fifth major at the venue where he made his first public apology following his stunning fall from grace.

Also likely is the Jack Nicklaus-hosted Memorial tournament in Dublin, Ohio from June 3-6 where he typically plays.

The April 29-May 2 Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina is another possibility and Woods has until the Friday before that week to commit to the event.

Wherever he does play next, the world number one will not have the luxury of the tightly controlled environment at Augusta and he could well experience his first on-course heckling since he became engulfed in his sex scandal.

Should he be heckled by the fans, he will have to negotiate yet another severe test of his ability to keep his now notorious tongue in check.

It will also help if he can start regularly hitting the ball straight again.

CNN Opinion Research says Tiger's favorable ratings are at 39 percent after the Masters.

Fewer than four in 10 Americans have a favorable view of Tiger Woods, down a few percentage points from the previous month, according to a new national poll released Monday.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey indicates that 39 percent of the public views Woods in a positive light, down four points from March, when 43 percent had a favorable view of him.

"His ratings seemed to have slipped most among men and higher-income Americans," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "The reason for the differences is unclear. It's probably not his participation in the Masters this weekend, since in an earlier poll only one in five said that Woods should wait longer before returning to professional golf. And it wasn't his fourth-place showing in the Masters, since most interviews were conducted before the results were known."

Whatever the reason, Woods' public image has dropped a long way. Until recently, Woods was one of the most popular figures in America, with favorable ratings exceeding 80 percent.

And Golf Channel provides quotes of the week.

A magical Saturday at Augusta set the stage for an almost can't miss epic Sunday, and the scribblers are doing their best to keep things in perspective after some breathless early evening tweets (maybe memories of last year finally kicked in).

LEDES

Larry Dorman in the New York Times:

It was a Saturday like few others in the history of the Masters, a tournament that has just about had it all. It was a civilized brawl, a donnybrook with the top players in the game knocking down flagsticks, trading stunning shots, swapping the lead and coming back for more.

Doug Ferguson for AP:

Lee Westwood heard the ground-shaking roars for just about everyone but him on a Saturday that sounded an awful lot like Sunday at the Masters.

Phil Mickelson made consecutive eagles, and came within inches of three in a row. Tiger Woods battled back from a seven-shot deficit with three straight birdies to stay in the game. Fred Couples chipped in for eagle, keeping his hopes alive.

Mark Reason for the Telegraph:

Tiger Woods had a mouthful of swear words during the third round of the Masters, but Lee Westwood kept strictly to the King’s English.

James Corrigan in the Independent:

So much for this golf tournament being simply about Tiger Woods, so much for the comeback of the disgraced No 1 hijacking the first major of the season. Between them, Lee Westwood and Phil Mickelson ensured that all the talk in Augusta last night was at last focused on the 74th Masters and not the 14 mistresses.

QUICKIES

Birdies and Bogeys at GolfDigest.com, includes:

BOGEY: Tiger Woods -- The missed putts are one thing, but Woods' profanity-laced outbursts on the sixth and seventh holes -- perfectly audible on TV -- are not exactly positive steps in the whole image rehab process.

An SI/Golf.com mini-Confidential is on Tiger's temper Saturday.

PGATour.com's roundup, via Yahoo.

And Golfweek's Quick 18.

 
ROARS

The roars that most writers were reluctantly saying never went away (with Masters Major Achievement Awards on their minds), why…they're back!

Gary Van Sickle is beside himself.

Take a deep breath. Now exhale. Whew! Has watching a golf tournament ever been so thrilling and so exhausting? Saturday at Augusta National could be summarized in a single word: Wow!
One formality remains before the 74th Masters joins the short list of the greatest, most epic Masters Tournaments in history, a little something called the back nine on Sunday.

Jeff Rude experienced the electric stretch with Hank Haney. Lucky him!

My perspective came while walking in Tiger Woods’ gallery. The first from the direction of the 13th green as Woods was on 11. The sense was Phil Mickelson had eagled 13. He did. Moments later, the scoreboard left of 11 green moved Mickelson from 7 to 9 under. When it did, the crowd went wild, as if they had witnessed the eagle, as if there’s no question which player they want to win.

As Woods walked off the tee at 13, the highest decibels of the week came from the direction of the green on the par-4 14th. At the time, I was visiting with Woods’ coach, Hank Haney.

“Sounds like someone holed out for eagle at 14,” Haney said.

Jim Achenbach at Golfweek.com:

Asked to explain the low scores (Westwood is 12 under for 54 holes, Mickelson 11 under), Lefty talked about receptive greens and warm weather. “With the warm temperatures,” he said, “the ball is just traveling a lot longer distance.”

The Masters doesn’t start until the back nine on Sunday, eh?

How about this updated analysis: The Masters doesn’t start until the back nine on Saturday.

Or this one: Saturday at the Masters isn’t just Moving Day, it’s Judgment Day. For this year’s Masters competitors, the task was to shoot a low score or perish.

Richard Williams just DQ'd himself from Masters Achievement Award consideration for daring to point out the obvious: the de-Hootification of Augusta is working.

There is another reason why we were able to wake up on Saturday morning to see a leaderboard top-loaded with players of the highest quality and seething with competitiveness. The Augusta National committee has clearly decided, without admitting as much, to roll back some of the changes to the 78-year-old course made during the chairmanship of Hootie Johnson between 1998 and 2006, when fear of a possible Woods hegemony persuaded the committee to lengthen the course from 6,925 yards to 7,445 yards and prompted the planting of extra stands of loblolly pines and dogwoods to reprofile and exaggerate the demands of several holes.

Quietly, some of those modifications are being reversed. In his press conference on Wednesday the current chairman, Billy Payne, won headlines for his remarks about Woods, but he also spoke of changes to two par-five holes in particular: at the 2nd the greenside bunkers have been shrunk and at the 15th a new pin position has been established, with the intention of encouraging the players to go for eagles.

All around the course, however, little changes are being massaged into the contours and angles of some of the best-known holes in the game. So insistent is Augusta National on honouring its cherished past that the legacy of Johnson, now their "chairman emeritus", will never be publicly repudiated. But, as we have seen in the early rounds of this year's tournament, gradually a great course is being restored to its former balance of qualities, and the players are responding with magnificent risk-taking golf.

Take out the silly pines on 11, 15 and 17, and things will be even more dramatic.

Matt Middleton talks to Steve Flesch about a change in the hazard banks that is playing a key role in the tournament.

Flesch, third to last in the field in driving distance during Saturday's third round, noticed something at Augusta National Golf Club's par-5 13th hole that rewards long-hitting players who go for the green in two shots.

"Balls are staying on that hill (in front of the green) all the time now," he said. "I kind of liked it when everything went in the creek."

Players said they have noticed a change in the slopes leading into water hazards, particularly around the 12th, 13th and 15th holes. The grass appears denser, players say, which is preventing balls from running down into the hazard.

LEE

Bob Harig on the 54-hole leader:

But at one point early on the back nine, Westwood had built a 4-shot advantage, then through virtually no fault of his own, saw it turn into a 1-stroke deficit.

"It was probably one of those great days in golf, a major championship," said Westwood, who holds a 54-hole lead in a major for the first time. "I obviously wasn't privy to the things that [everyone else has] been seeing. But you know, I was well aware that somebody was making a charge, and I figured it was Phil.

"That's what major championships are about. They are tough ones to win, because people, great players do great things at major championships."

Bill Elliott on the all-English pairing Saturday:

While Poulter struggled, dropping shots to par but not quite disappearing, Westwood fought like the genuine star he has become in the last couple of years. Others would have buckled under the pressure as huge galleries cheered on Mickelson but the gym-moulded Englishman stayed what he said he would: patient. His reward came on the long 15th. He was irritated when his eagle putt slipped past the hole but smiled and blinked happily when he noticed that his birdie had taken him back up ahead of Mickelson when the Californian sliced his approach to the 17th and took three putts to get down. In the end Westwood's 68 was good enough to give him a one-stroke lead, 18 holes to go.

PHIL

Steve Elling on Phil Mickelson's epic back-nine run Saturday.

There was nothing shy or retiring about the back nine, which sounded a lot like the 30 he shot in the final round in 2004 to win by a stroke to claim the first of his two green jackets. It all began at the famous 13th, when Mickelson cracked a drive into the elbow of the dogleg and cranked a 7-iron from 195 yards to within eight feet and made the eagle putt.

He drilled his drive on the tricky 14th and only had 140 to the flag. Butch Harmon, his longtime swing coach, and little brother Tim Mickelson, 32, were stationed along the ropes when Lefty launched a wedge high into the air. As soon as it landed and began rolling sideways toward the flag, somebody yelled "get in the hole," which is hardly unusual.

"And for once, it did," Harmon said. "That was one of the loudest roars I have heard out here in a long time."

Dave Shedloski for GolfDigest.com:

All golfers, titans and mortals, point towards this week, but Mickelson -- even more than the troubled Woods with his well-publicized personal hang-ups -- has been reserving his focus and energies for this week.

"No question, Phil has had a ton on his plate," said Jim Mackay, Mickelson's longtime caddie and close friend. "But he loves this place. He's got a real game plan here when he comes here. He's got that magic book [yardage book] in his back pocket. He feels like he knows every inch of the place. The question is, could he make it happen?"

Sean Martin on Phil scribbling a little something on the eagle-eagle-birdie ball.

Gene Wojciechowski on what Phil's going through off the course:

"This is the first week they've traveled in 11 months," said Mickelson. "It's really fun having them here. And it takes a lot of the heartache away."

They watch movies together. Mickelson and his daughter Sophia go to an Augusta coffee shop almost every morning and play chess for an hour. Nothing has been normal since the cancer diagnoses in mid-2009, but this helps. A lot.

"I'm sure it's awesome for him to go home at night and see the wife and kids at a tournament," said his longtime caddie, Jim "Bones" Mackay.

FREDDIE

Jeff Babineau says Fred Couples still has a shot.

At 50, Couples would be the oldest major winner. He says there are times his balky back makes him feel double that number, but when he’s loose and feeling good, he certainly doesn’t feel 50 as a golfer. He’s won three Champions Tour events this year, still drives it plenty long enough – at 283.6 yards, he’s tied for 14th this week – hits lots of greens (38 of 54) and has plenty of knowledge and experience at Augusta that many younger peers simply don’t possess.

It remains to be seen how much Couples’ sloppy finish on Friday, when he had two late three-putts and finished bogey-bogey-bogey, will hurt him in the long run. Other than that, he’d be right there.

“This is my favorite spot to play,” he said. “I know I can play the course. I can putt the greens. I’m a great lag putter . . . I have one day tomorrow, and we’ll see what happens.

“It would be a miracle, but we’ll see.”

And Sam Weinman featured this quote:

 "I feel a hundred standing here to be honest with you, but I don't feel 50 playing golf," Couples said. "I still drive the ball a long way. You know, I can hit a lot of long irons and play long, hard holes, and that's what you've got to do here. So you know, whatever happens tomorrow, it's not because I'm 50 and tired, it's just because I didn't play well on Sunday at Augusta, but I'm going to give it my best."

TIGER

Tim Dahlberg for AP:

Kultida Woods couldn’t do anything about it, though she offered a running commentary to Nike chairman Phil Knight as they followed her son around the course, and following them was a uniformed deputy sheriff.

After Woods hit his first putt up a big hill and well past the hole on No. 6, she explained to Knight that the putt was just too tough.

“If you do not putt it hard it will come down,” she said. “It’s a hard putt. A hard putt.”

Ron Sirak for GolfDigest.com:

Remarkably Woods, who at one time trailed by seven strokes, was tied for third place with K.J. Choi at 208, a manageable four strokes off the lead. "I was fighting it all day," Woods said. "My warm-up wasn't very good. I was struggling there. I really struggled with the pace of the greens and fighting my swing. It was a tough day. I just wanted to put myself in contention, and I did that. As of right now I'm only four back, so good round tomorrow..."

Woods's voice tailed off as he finished the answer with a shrug and a smile. If Woods were to storm from behind in Sunday's final round it would be the first time he has rallied to win a major championship. All of his 14 major titles have come with Woods either leading or sharing the lead after 54 holes.

Dan Mirocha on Tiger's new attitude.

Tonight, he may need to tack on a few aspirin, too.

For a man who has vowed to alter his ways both on and off the course, Saturday proved that change does not come overnight.

“Did I (curse)?” Woods said when asked if he had regrets about not toning down his outbursts. “If I did, then I’m sorry.

Martin Samuel saw a different Tiger Saturday:

There was a subtle shift in his demeanour, too, suggesting a man here to win his 15th major, not make new friends. Maybe Woods has realised what the more PR fixated in his team will never understand about sport: win and the rest takes care of itself.

Cameron Morfit gives Tiger a big thumb's up on the week.

Still, Woods has done more than just say the right things. He has made eye contact with his fans. He has tipped his cap. He has resisted the odd impulse to tomahawk his club into the turf. And when he blocked his drive on 17 Saturday and the ball headed for the Augusta airport, he laughed.

Deadspin has a roundup of the Tiger ad spoofs.


OTHERS

An AP story on K.J. Choi, lurking dangerously and anonymously even though he's in the second to last group with Tiger for the fourth straight day.

I'm really having a good time this week," said Choi, who shot a 2-under 70 that left him four strokes off Westwood's pace, three behind Mickelson and tied for third with Woods. "I feel good right now, and I'm just going to keep to my routine and just keep on praying. You never know how this tournament is going to finish."

Choi has been paired all three rounds with Woods, and they've matched each other virtually stroke for stroke.

They're both at 8-under 208, so they'll get to play together one more time - in the most important round of all.

"Unbelievable, absolutely fantastic," said Choi, ranked 43rd in the world. "I'm used to him after three rounds, so having the same pairing is fantastic."

Kevin Garside on Ian Poulter's rough day.

By the time Westwood and Poulter turned for home the English challenge had shrunk to one. Poulter was running from snakes and Westwood was doing all he could to resist the remarkable assault of Mickelson. A bogey at the last cooled Mickelson’s heels. A birdie at 15 temporarily reversed the order back in Westwood’s favour.

The pair have the honour of going out last today. Woods is still in play. Turn off the phone, line up the gin and tonics and prepare for the finest night’s television viewing of the year.

Alex Miceli talks to a shaken Ernie Els.

“This place just does it to me,” Els said after a 3-over 75 Saturday. “I prepared and prepared, and I think about it. It’s killing me.”

Gene Frenette on Matteo Manassero's play and turning pro in May.

His family has no reservations about allowing Matteo, who celebrates his 17th birthday next week, to turn pro at the Italian Open in early May.

Manassero still has two more years of high school to complete at home and through online courses -- not an easy juggling act while trying to initiate a career on the European Tour.

"His age is not a problem," said his father, Roberto. "What's important is that he's tranquil. Matteo is not a self-absorbed person. I see with all the attention he's getting at tournaments, he's still the same Matteo."

He became the first amateur since 2005 to make the cut, mostly because of his work on the greens.

Bob Carney's write up of the GWAA dinner has been picked up by a few outlets today because it includes Tom Watson's jabs at the President.

Conservative Tom Watson, who shared the Ben Hogan comeback-from-injury award with Ken Green, began by saying, “I feel like President Obama accepting the Nobel Peace Prize. He actually said, ‘I’m undeserving of this award.’ And I believed him.” (applause). We’ll I am undeserving too compared to what my fellow golfer Ken Green went through.”

Maybe sensing a little backlash (okay, I doubt that), Watson Saturday talked about spotting a bluebird. Dave Kindred writes:

And there was a bluebird. Watson saw it. He didn't play well, a 73, but he was still two under par, 10 shots off the lead, no bad thing for a man 60 years old.

But on a day when the Masters showed us, again, that golf exists outside TigerWorld, Watson said, "It's still always a pleasure to walk around Augusta when the azaleas are popping -- and there was the most beautiful bluebird on 17 that I ever saw." So we now can add a Watson amendment to Walter Hagen's stop-and-smell-the-roses rule: However amazing the day, stop and watch the bluebirds.

I still haven't found any stories confirming Nick Faldo's comment about Watson only using 13 clubs.


FLORA AND FAUNA

Bill Kirby explains that the azaleas have not bloomed yet and why. Something to do with chilling hours and not the Valentine's Day snowstorm.


IMAGES
Golfweek
Augusta Chronicle
GolfDigest.com

And finally, the best of the Ancient Twitterer, fending off complaints of racism over a Y.E. Yang tweet:

Of course Phil Mickelson would think that about a pairing with Tiger at the Masters. The difference in crowd applause for the two would only magnify what figures to be an awkward situation. Bob Harig reports.