Rob Griffith / AP

Tiger Woods reacts to a missed putt on the 9th green during the third round of the Australian Masters.

“I hit some really good shots out there, but also I hit some terrible golf shots,” Woods said. “It was either-or. There was no gray area. I didn’t really have any borderline shots.”

Chalmers and Nitties don’t have the pedigree, which is not to suggest they are incapable.

Nitties played bogey-free in the third round, although he cringed after so many putts that burned the edge of the cup. Chalmers rolled in some big putts in the middle of his round to take the lead, only to give it back with two short misses at the end.

They were at 10-under 206 and will be in the final group before a hometown crowd.

The gallery has turned out in record numbers this week, their first chance to see Woods in Australia since 1998, no guarantee of seeing him again until the Presidents Cup in 2011 at Royal Melbourne, assuming he qualifies.

No one was sure what to expect in terms of a gallery favorite Sunday.

At a World Golf Championship in Spain a decade ago, Woods battled down the stretch with Miguel Angel Jimenez, and the Spanish gallery cheered when Woods hit a chip into the water on the 17th at Valderrama and made triple bogey. They root for their own in Spain.

Nitties believes the gallery will root for a good show.

“You can hear the roars are huge for Tiger and the roars are huge for us if we hole a putt, which is awesome,” he said. “I wouldn’t like it if everyone was going against Tiger or an American guy or a European guy. Obviously, Tiger gets massive roars because he does special stuff. But the crowd is really hoping that we do well, and hoping that Tiger does well.”

It’s the golfing public that might not go so easy on Woods if he doesn’t win.

Alas, he is not the only one facing such pressure. One online betting agency in Australia was so sure Woods was going to win that it paid out all its bets — $150,000 — after he took a three-shot lead after the second round.