Woods wasn’t immune, bogeying the last two holes to ruin what had been a remarkably steady round under the circumstances. Little did he know walking off the 18th green with a scowl on his face an hour ahead of the leaders that things would go so south for them that he would be playing in the final group on Sunday.

Woods was one of the lucky ones. He was one of only two players to shoot par.

Only one player broke par, and it wasn’t surprising that it was Retief Goosen. When you’ve been struck by lightning on the golf course, slick greens are the least of your worries.

This Masters has been tough from the opening ceremonial tee shot that Arnold Palmer pulled into the left rough on Thursday, and it’s been that way by design. The green jackets added yards, trees, rough and sand last year to make it more of a test for today’s big hitters, and they succeeded beyond expectations.

It doesn’t figure to get any better on Sunday, a day when viewers are used to watching a back nine duel of eagles and birdies. The course is so dry and hard that they could turn the sprinklers on all night and it wouldn’t make a difference. And there are only so many easy pin placements to be had.

Slide show   Week in Sports Pictures Flying on the hardwood, racing on the rink, getting physical on the gridiron, and much more. more photos

Woods, of course, will be a heavy favorite to win for the fifth time here. He’s just a stroke behind, and there’s no one else in the top seven who has ever won a major, much less 12 of them.

But don’t count Mickelson out. He is the defending champion, and he is the only player who was concocting a game plan even while others around him were signing their scorecards.

Best of all, the late collapses mean he probably doesn’t even need anything in the 60s anymore.

Now if he could just do something about global warming.

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