Immelman holed his par putt. Woods missed, just as he has done the last two years on the back nine of a major he once dominated. That turn of events kept Woods five shots behind, and he three-putted the 14th to end his hopes.

“I hit the ball well enough to contend,” Woods said. “I definitely hit the ball well enough to put some pressure on Trevor. I just didn’t make any putts.”

The first blast of wind hit Amen Corner an hour before the leaders teed off, a sign of how tough it would be in the final round. And that didn’t account for the pressure on four guys contending for the first time in a major — at Augusta, no less.

The first to fall was Paul Casey, two shots out of the lead until it took him two shots to get out of the bunker on No. 4 for double bogey. Casey dropped six shots in a five-hole stretch, including the par-3 sixth, when he called a penalty on himself for his ball moving a fraction of an inch as he stood over a 3-foot putt. Casey closed with a 79.

Next was Steve Flesch, who was even par through 11 holes and only two shots behind as he stood on the 12th tee, trying to guess whether the swirling wind would be on his side.

He felt a gust as his 8-iron was in flight, and knew what was coming. The ball came down into the creek for a double bogey, and Flesch bogeyed four straight holes after that. He shot a 78 and tied for fifth with British Open champion Padraig Harrington and Phil Mickelson, who each shot 72.

Snedeker provided most of the excitement on an otherwise dull day, holing a 35-foot eagle putt on No. 2 for a share of the lead. He made a 45-foot birdie putt across the green on the 12th to pull within three shots.

But there was a massive shortage of pars, and far too many mistakes, the biggest coming on No. 13.

“Golly, man, if somebody could tell me how to play that second shot, I’d love to know,” he said. “Because two days in a row, I’ve hit it in the damn water.”

Immelman wisely laid up, then fired a wedge into the back bank and watched it roll down to 2 feet for birdie. As the bogeys piled up behind him, the South African suddenly found himself in the most beautiful spot at Augusta.

He had a five-shot lead with five holes to play, most of the trouble out of the way.

Even wearing a green jacket, Immelman had a hard time believing how far he had come in such a short time.

“The week before I’m winning a golf tournament and the next week I’m lying in a hospital bed, and you just realize that it can get taken away so fast,” he said. “And if you don’t enjoy every step of the way, you might regret it.”

There were no regrets Sunday. Immelman has never felt better.

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