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AUGUSTA - So far it's the toughest Masters in history, and probably the coldest too.
Stuart Appleby's 54-hole 218, two-over, is the highest by a third-round leader. The record for the highest total winning score, one-over 289, was set in 1954 and equalled two years later. It seems certain to be exceeded today.
The Australian is one shot ahead of four-time champion Tiger Woods and England's Justin Rose.
Ireland's Padraig Harrington and Americans Zach Johnson and Vaughn Taylor are tied for fourth at four-over.
Round three was played on a day reminiscent of winter on the Canterbury Plains.
The skies were a sparkling clear blue but the north winds were bitingly cold and the temperature barely reached 10C. Augusta National's greens were again as hard and slick as an ice rink littered with body bags, and scores ballooned accordingly.
The day's average was a staggering 77.35, more than five-over.
Only one player, Retief Goosen, broke par.
His 70 moved him from 46th equal to a share of 8th and a winning opportunity. Two others, Woods and England's Lee Westwood, returned even 72s but 12 players, or 20 per cent of the field, scored 80 or more.
Despite the high numbers, there were no complaints from the players.
Appleby remarked that the course was "right on the limit of tournament play", but Rose said he "couldn't argue with the set-up".
Appleby began the day three behind joint leaders Tim Clark and Brett Wetterich. They quickly fell off the pace and the man looking to become the first Australian to win at Augusta stormed to the top of the leaderboard with consecutive birdies on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th holes.
While he dropped a shot at the 7th, precision iron play and a sound short game kept him under par until the 17th. There he spectacularly unravelled with a triple-bogey seven after two trips into the sand, followed by three putts.
A sound par four up the demanding final hole meant he was home in 73 and setting the pace.
"The final round, though, will be a very different scenario for me, particularly from a crowd point of view with the fan base being for Tiger," he said.
"But I have to make sure I enjoy the day and be relaxed. That's where my best play comes from."
Woods, five shots behind at the start of the day, made two birdies in the first nine and seemed destined to move to the top of the leaderboard. Then he made mistakes on each of the final holes, finished with 72 and will be paired with Appleby in the final group today.
"With the wind and greens, this is one of the hardest rounds we've ever played here," he said. "You can hit a great shot and get absolutely hosed out there."
Rose, whose best finish in a major championship remains his famous 4th placing as a 17-year-old amateur at the 1998 British Open, briefly took the lead when he birdied the 15th, before making bogey on the 16th and 17th. The South African-born Englishman won the Australian Masters in Melbourne last November and says the hard and fast conditions in that tournament at Huntingdale will stand him in good stead for the final day at Augusta.
"But you can't let thoughts of a green jacket enter your mind. You have to stay in the present."
As befits an original field which contained a majority of non-American players, six countries are represented in the top 10. Appleby, runner-up in the Houston Open a week ago, is the sole Australian in that group and hopes to go one better than Aussie runners-up Bruce Crampton (1972), Jack Newton (1980) and Greg Norman (1986, 1987 and 1996).
But once more it's difficult to look beyond a fifth Woods green jacket. His three rounds so far (74-73-72) are an ominous sequence. If he improves by one again in the 4th round, he won't be beaten.
The 10th anniversary of his breakthrough 1997 win could be marked with an unlikely record. Then he set a record for the lowest winning score of 270. He may well bookend that with the Masters' highest winning score.
