South Africa's Ernie Els is the PGA European Tour's main hope of further US Masters success. Whed darkness called a halt to Saturday's rain-interrupted play the Big Easy last at three under par with three holes of his third round to be completed Sunday morning.
That was four behind Vijay Singh who stood at seven under for the tournament after 50 holes, three ahead of playing partner David Duval.
Saturday play was suspended for 125 minutes soon after mid-day to allow a storm to blow through. On the resumption of play conditions were described by
Jack Nicklaus as the worst he could ever remember at Augusta and as bad as he had experienced anywhere in his long and illustrious career.
Jack, who started the day at level par, ended it nine over after an 81, his career worst at Augusta
Sergio Garcia performed creditably for a 75 on a day when Tiger Woods hurtled into contention with a 68, largely compiled before the weather broke. That
put him at one over, the same mark as Bernhard Langer who has two holes to complete Sunday morning.
