Trevor Immelman and Brandt Snedeker were supposed to fade Saturday at the Masters, but instead they flourished.
Phil Mickelson was supposed to lurk on the leader board, but instead he limped almost entirely out of contention.
And Tiger Woods? Well, Tiger gave the fans at Augusta National something to roar about on a few occasions. He shot four-under-par 68 to climb within six shots of the lead and set the stage for today's final round.
Immelman birdied three of his last six holes and shot three-under-par 69. That put him at 11-under 205 and increased his lead to two shots over Snedeker, who rallied from potential disaster with three straight bogeys at Amen Corner. Snedeker birdied three of his last five holes for a 70.
Steve Flesch shot 69 and was in third at eight-under. Paul Casey shot 32 on the front nine but collapsed on the back nine with a 37 and was at seven-under.
Next was Woods, alone in fifth place at five-under. While Woods has never won a major while trailing after the third round, his competitors are far from comfortable.
"Who is the guy in fifth place?" joked Snedeker. "Oh, Tiger Woods. Yeah, that guy.
"Yeah, I'm sure he's going to be a factor. His name is going to be on the leader board somewhere tomorrow. It's going to be there on the back nine."
If Woods' back-nine charge Saturday was any indication, he could have a good chance. He made one birdie on his first nine holes, then stormed to three birdies on the back and made a big par save on the 18th hole, hitting an eight-iron off the pine straw and through the trees that reached the green.
"I got a lot of work to do tomorrow," Woods said. "Obviously, with the conditions are supposed to be pretty blustery tomorrow and a little cooler. And again you got to hang in there and be patient out there because it doesn't take much to make a high number out here."
Mickelson could attest to that. He began the round three shots off the lead and finished nine shots back at two-under after a 75...
