LITTLE ROCK — For long bombs, comebacks, fast starts, wobbly finishes, and inexplicable misses, the third round of the NCAA Tournament has absolutely nothing on Saturday’s third round of the 76th edition of The Masters.
The golf gets the check mark for sustained drama and surprises at Augusta National Golf Club.
After three rounds of basketball, only eight can hoist the trophy and we have to wait more than a week for the title game.
More than a dozen golfers went to bed Saturday night believing they are still in the hunt for the green jacket.
Whether or not they would admit it, they wondered what would happen if they finished off a 66 while the leaders still had a few holes to play.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Those with the dream will have to do some on their own and they will need some help from Peter Hanson, Phil Mickelson and Louis Oosthuizen.
Working in favor of those at 212 or higher is that there is only one player at 207, 208, 209, 210 and 211.
At Augusta National, where downhill putts keep going, uphill putts slow abruptly, and flat, straight putts can’t be found, a 73 or 74 can take shape about as quickly as a basketball team can lose an eight-point lead.
Beating a retreat on Sunday is not unusual at The Masters. Last year, Rory McIlroy led by four shots with 18 holes to play and tied for 15th.
In the 76 years of Masters history, only 41 players holding at least a share of the 54-hole lead have gone on to win.
The 34-year-old Hanson has the burden of sleeping on the lead and trying to back up a 65.
After an opening bogey on Saturday, he could do no wrong. He made one from off the green on No. 15, an impossible left-to-righter from 3-point range on No. 17, and a lay-in on No. 18 set up when he encouraged his approach shot to a back pin with “All the way, all the way, come on, get up.”
His position on the leaderboard flies in the face of conventional wisdom that experience at Augusta is worth a handful of strokes during the tournament.
Last year was his first at The Masters and he missed the cut with 148. As soon as Hanson birdied No. 15, I retrieved the tournament’s players guide from my desk and turned to page 52.
A regular on the European Tour since 2001, the Swede rarely plays in the U.S. However, he will have more opportunity because his top-5 finishes (worth $632,500) in two World Golf Championship events earned him special temporary membership for the rest of the PGA Tour season.
When the third round began, the two leaders were minus five and 20 others were within four shots.
Twenty minutes before CBS began its coverage, Jason Dufner led at minus-5, there was a 13-way tie for 10th at minus-2, and five others were at minus-1.
By the time Dufner and Fred Couples finished shortly after 6 p.m., Hanson and Mickelson had played their way into the final pairing.
With Tiger Woods out of the picture, three-time Masters champion Mickelson will have the vociferous backing of most of the crowd.
Quick quotes from the tournament are available on a website, and Hanson was honest when he said he would have to control his emotions.
“This is kind of a new situation to me, being in the spotlight like this, and playing in the last group,” he said.
The glare might be too much.
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Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media’s Arkansas News Bureau. Email: hking@arkansasnews.com.