Within striking distance

"That was a no-brainer," Woods said. "That was a great break."

Woods marked his ball and will replace it, cleaned, Sunday morning. The horn's timing may have saved him a shot. And it's possible he could break the course record of 63 if he snags an eagle at 13 or 15 Sunday.

Your winner, unless he reverts to the Tiger we've seen spraying drives way off-line in the last year, is Woods. In NASCAR terms, he's the fastest car on the track.

Actually, having Woods chase him could be the best thing for DiMarco. A big lead is an awkward position for most tour players and one they're not often in. The feeling is, all you can do is mess it up. With Woods charging after him like, well, Woods, DiMarco won't have to worry about playing conservative golf and aiming for the middle of greens. He can't go into a prevent defense which, as NFL fans know only too well, usually only prevents winning. Asked if he felt he needed to keep attacking Sunday, DiMarco said: "Well, yeah, especially with Tiger behind me."

Being pushed may take the pressure off DiMarco, because he'll have to keep trying to make birdies. DiMarco is a seasoned veteran but not a big winner. He's got three wins -- the 2000 SEI Pennsylvania Classic, 2001 Buick Challenge and 2002 Phoenix Open. Not exactly the Grand Slam of golf, is it? His 2004 was a vital year in his career, though. He played in the final pairing Sunday at the Masters with Phil Mickelson, shot 76 and tied for sixth. In 2001, DiMarco was the Masters leader after each of the first two rounds, just like this year. And last year, he got into the PGA Championship playoff, won by Vijay Singh, and came up big -- well, as big as anybody on the team -- in the Ryder Cup. He may have learned something about winning the big one playing with Mickelson a year ago.

"I watched how it was done," he said. "If anybody had the best seat in the house, it was me. Do you know what Phil did? He had fun. Going out and trying to hold onto a lead isn't going to do it. Go out and step on it. That's what Ernie did last year and that's why he almost won. That's why Phil won on the back nine. That's what you have to do around here. You look back in the '80s and '90s, the guys who won, they won on the back nine."

I don't see DiMarco folding this time. I just see Woods outplaying him.

This guy is tough, kind of like DiMarco. He'd only posted one round in the 60s in 14 previous rounds at Augusta before he rode a pair of eagles to a second-round 67. He took a self-imposed break at one point in his career to get rid of "demons," and is best-known for taking three shots out of a greenside bunker on the 70th hole and handing the 2003 British Open to American unknown Ben Curtis.

Bjorn has seven wins in Europe, but a missed 18-inch par putt Saturday on the seventh hole could be a signal that he's going to struggle with Augusta National's treacherous greens when the pressure turns up a notch in the final round.

The No. 1 player in the world is obviously a threat, even though at 4 under par, he is nine shots back. More important he's five behind Tiger. Singh needs to shoot a 32 or 33 on the back nine Sunday morning to give himself a realistic chance to make a run.