Tiger burns slowly but brightly

JUST BEFORE 2pm yesterday a mass of people gathered at the first tee at Augusta National waiting for Tiger Woods. To say there was expectation in the air was to put it mildly.

There was a sense of giddyness, a feeling that comes with the sure-fire belief that Woods had to make a move to get himself into this tournament, to keep his dream of a Grand Slam on track. One thing was certain, the world No.1 would attack whenever possible. The atmosphere was electrifying.

An hour's rain in mid-morning softened up Augusta's greens and left them vulnerable to a Tiger charge. That was the script, the hope of the throngs that followed him.

He made a move right enough but it was a slow-burning effort, an early birdie on the par five 2nd and a whole load of missed opportunities before a second arrived on the fiendish 10th.

Now we saw something we hadn't seen all week. Up there on the leaderboard popped the name of T Woods, three shots away from missing the cut on Friday and closing in on the pace-setters on Saturday. In a word, interesting.

There was much work to do, of course, maybe too much work but when Woods makes a move in the third round of a major his soundtrack could be that threatening music from Jaws, that moody theme that warns of impending danger.

Phil Mickelson, a serial scoreboard watcher, would have noted the arrival of the great man to the business end of the tournament. Mickelson may have gulped a little. By the time Woods tapped in his third birdie of the day on 13th hole, he had closed to within one shot of Mickelson.

Lefty was having some adventures of his own, suggesting early in his third round that he was going to steam clear when he put a wedge to inches on the second hole for birdie before holing-out for par from 25ft on the next. Mickelson's progress slowed thereafter. It might be too convenient to put that down to the sight of Woods in his slipstream. Paul Casey playing a few groups ahead did not seem to bother. The Englishman has not made a bad move this week. Everything about his game and his demeanour has been positive.

The feelgood continued yesterday. Starting at 4-under, he rattled in birdies at the 2nd, the 5th and the 7th and should have another on the 8th, taking three from the fringe on the par 5. Casey has been here before, of course, but it is hard to remember him looking quite so composed, quite so in control of all facets of his game. He has many doubters but he's been converting them one by one these past few days with the quality of his ball-striking and his gorgeous touch on these murderous greens.

There's been much belly-aching in the locker room this week, a fair degree of it coming from Woods, it has to be said. Woods says there is only one way to play a lot of these holes nowadays – the little angles the more imaginative players used to work have been shut down by big trees and cuts of rough, the creative routes to the pins have been blocked off like cul de sacs. The pros say the thrill has gone and it's just a grind of late. But the pros say a lot of things and often times they go over the top, they stretch their gripes to breaking point.

Woods sat in the interview room on Tuesday and answered questions about the challenges of Augusta, the added length that makes it a brute, the new forests, the whole shooting match. It's tough, said Tiger. US Open-tough. The subtext of what he says is that they've ruined it. The days when guys could go low round here, the roars in acclamation of birdies and eagles? Things of the past said the world's greatest golfer.

Can you make birdies the way you used to, Tiger? "No. No," he replied.

"You used to say that par was 68 for the longer hitters. I remember roaming around here and hitting good drives off the par 5s and good irons to every green; that's no longer the case. It's playing a lot different and a lot more penal... The way the golf course plays now you don't really shoot low rounds here anymore. You've just got to plod along. It's playing more like a US Open than it is a Masters. "

Well, let's see. Trevor Immelman led the tournament at the halfway stage, the South African hitting two 68s for 8-under. Can't make the birdies, eh? Immelman made nine of them in 36 holes. His 8-under halfway total has been bettered by just four men in the last 20 years of the Masters – Chris DiMarco in 2005, Greg Norman in 1996, Jay Haas in 1995 and Craig Parry in 1992. When Tiger came of age here in 1997, he was 8-under at the midway point, the same as Immelman. Makes you think.

Woods' mindset is always a fascinating thing to observe. Early in the week he was down on the course set-up and predicted a four-day grind. On Friday, when trailing by eight shots, he was a changed man. Birdies and eagles? Oh yes, they were out there right enough. An eight-shot deficit? He could make that up, easy. "This golf course, you can make up shots here quickly," he said. So we sat back and waited for the Augusta charge that Tiger said a few days before could not be done.

Nobody doubted him on Friday. His genius ensured as much even if logic suggested otherwise. Time was when Tiger owned Augusta but he's not been as comfortable here in the last few years. His first two rounds were marked by a visible frustration, the kind of emotion he doesn't normally like to reveal. Tiger likes to keep things under wraps. Ask him if he's ever doubted himself and he says, tersely, "No". Ask him if he's ever been intimidated by another player and he says, "Once, when I was 11." As far as his public comments go, Tiger has no fear, only certainty. Much of this is genuine but some of it is a game, a psychological trick to deflate his opponents.

On Thursday, Woods found trouble at the par five 13th. Statistically, it is the easiest hole on the course. For a player of Woods' quality, it is a fine birdie opportunity. He bogeyed. He hit a sweeping 4-iron approach that missed the green and found a horrenous spot. Later, he described that 4-iron as "a sweet shot" and "one of my best swings all day." Maybe he meant it, but that's the mental strength of the man. A negative gets turned into a positive.

Friday's round of 71 was his 11th straight round at Augusta in which he's failed to break 70. This may mean nothing but it's worth mentioning that each time he won here he shot in the 60s in his second round, firing 66s three out of four times. Many of his victories have had their foundations in what he has done at the par 5s. In three rounds – four par 5s per round – he was just 3-under. Scoring so poorly on the long holes is like trying to climb Everest in your slippers. But on he went, chasing Mickelson and Casey and the rest.

He began his round yesterday in need of fireworks. The rain started to fall and some of the heat was removed from the greens. Moving day was upon us.