Homing in on old glory

US MASTERS: Crenshaw and Henninger man the defences as Europe's leading challenger mars a majestic start

NICK FALDO made a desperate attempt to earn Europe a place in the cavalry charge at the top of the US Masters leaderboard for today's final round but a double bogey after plugging into a bunker at the short 16th gave him a sharp tug on the bridle as some big names flashed past him.

Curtis Strange, reviving a career that has been largely dormant since he won successive US Opens in 1988 and '89 was the first to set the challenging pace with a 65 to go eight under. But Ben Crenshaw, another blaster from the past, and his little known compatriot Brian Henninger shared the top spot on 10 under after a hot and fiercely competitive third round.

Henninger, a 31-year-old Californian whose previous best performance this year was joint 12th in the Hawaiian Open, included three twos in his second successive 68. But Henninger will not draw comfort from the calibre of thos around him today in one of the most crowded leaderboards in Masters history.

Crenshaw, who won the Masters 11 years ago, is just one of famous names that flitted like ghosts through the Augusta pines. Even Ray Floyd lurched on to the leaderboard at one time. Fred Couples, who was supposed to have a bad back, nine under with five others, and Greg Norman is another of several who urged their way into positions from which they can mount telling thrusts today.

At five under Faldo cannot be ruled out. Someone has sprung out of the pack on each of the last two days and he has the iron commitment necessary to survive the pressures of the day, but there are a lot of golfers ahead of him. Reigning champion Jose Maria Olazabal and Ian Woosnam are one shot behind Faldo but the Americans have thrown a defensive phalanx around the Masters title that the Europeans are going to find difficult to breach.

The pity is that Faldo had made a dream start. He finished on Friday evening dejected about his putting, but the first putt he had yesterday was a 15-footer that went in sweetly for a birdie. But then he pulled his tee-shot high to the left on the second and the ball landed in a shaded creek - ideal for a picnic but lousy for a golf ball. He took a penalty drop but was well short with the recovery and found a bunker on his way to a bogey.

At the third his approach finished three feet away for a birdie. At the seventh his approach pitched at the back of the green and spun back 20 feet to within four feet of the hole for another birdie that saw him to six under. Another birdie put him on the leaderboard, but then came the 16th, where he three-putted after hitting a bunker.

Ian Woosnam still retains the hope that he can make a significant charge after a third round where he gained only one shot on the leaders: "Everytime I made a mistake I was crucified for it but I'm playing well and a 65 tomorrow might do it for me".

Such optimism was evident in the way he rescued himself on the eighth yesterday. He hooked his second into a tree, from where the ball bounced in the azaleas. He took a penalty drop, skied a pitch over the pines and holed a 50-foot putt to save par.

Seve Ballesteros was in his destino mood after a 78 that put him to the back of the field. "Nothing went right," he said. "It just wasn't to be."

He might have been aware of that right from the start yesterday. His second shot flew over the first green to finish down the bank and into the trees 30 yards from the pin. Seve chose to extricate himself with a putter that sent the ball up the bank to finish short of the green. Then he chose a wedge to send the ball to within four feet of the hole for his bogey putt.

He went on to birdie the second and third, but more trouble awaited him at the short fourth, where he pulled his tee-shot on to a path at the foot of the bank surrounding the green. He was awarded a free drop but his chip-shot hit the top of the bank and rolled back down.

The ball settled between two sprinkler heads and Seve asked for another free drop. The rules official was disinclined to agree and Ballesteros asked for a second opinion. It proved difficult to raise anyone so, after while, he decided to play it as it lay. This time the ball stayed on top of the bank but was still short of the green. Seve smote the ground in anger but composed himself to chip the ball within a few inches of the flag for a bogey. After dropping two shots on the outward nine, he fumbled his way around Amen Corner with a double bogey at the 12th and a score of 78.

Complete third-round scores

(US unless stated)

206

B Crenshaw 70 67 69

B Henninger 70 68 68

207

F Couples 71 69 67

S Elkington (Aus) 73 67 67

P Mickelson 66 71 70

J Haas 71 64 72

S Hoch 69 67 71

208

C Strange 72 71 65

D Frost (SA) 66 71 71

J Huston 70 66 72

209

G Norman (Aus) 73 68 68

D Love III 69 69 71

210

D Waldorf 75 68 67

C Pavin 67 71 72

211

M McCumber 73 69 69

R Floyd 71 70 70

N Faldo (GB) 70 70 71

M O'Meara 68 72 71

212

T Watson 73 70 69

H Irwin 69 72 71

I Woosnam (GB) 69 72 71

J-M Olazabal (Sp) 66 74 72

L Janzen 69 69 74

213

C Beck 68 76 69

L Roberts 72 69 72

B Langer (Ger) 71 69 73

214

P Jacobsen 72 73 69

R Fehr 76 69 69

B Faxon 76 69 69

M Ozaki (Japan) 70 74 70

B Lietzke 72 71 71

K Perry 73 70 71

215

J Nicklaus 67 78 70

P Stewart 71 72 72

J Daly 75 69 71

P Azinger 70 72 73

D Edwards 69 73 73

D Gilford (GB) 67 73 75

216

J Sluman 73 72 71

W Grady (Aus) 69 73 74

C Montgomerie (GB) 71 69 76

217

T Lehman 71 72 74

219

D Forsman 71 74 74

B Estes 73 70 76

220

M Calcavecchia 70 72 78

221

*T Woods 72 72 77

S Ballesteros (Sp) 75 68 78

NON-QUALIFIERS: 146 H Sutton 77 69; S Lyle (GB) 75 71; C Dennis 73 73; T Nakajima (Japan) 72 74; F Zoeller 72 74; C Stadler 70 75; M A Jimenez (Sp) 71 75. 147 B Bryant 77 70; L Mize 76 71; T Kite 74 73; C Coody 74 73; J Cook 73 74; M Heinen 73 74; E Els (SA) 72 75; M Sullivan 72 75. 148 J Maggert 78 70; V Singh (Fiji) 77 71; S Lowery 75 73; M McNulty (Zimb) 75 73; J Morse 74 74. 149 G Brewer 79 70; N Price (Zimb) 76 73; G Player (SA) 76 73; L Wadkins 74 55. 150 J McGovern 77 73. 151 N Lancaster 74 77; B Glasson 80 71. 152 A Palmer 79 73; D Pride 79 73. 153 M Brooks 76 77. 154 F Nobilo (NZ) 81 73. 155 *T Kuehne 79 76; *T Jackson 79 76. 157 M Springer 77 80; *L James (GB) 77 80. 160 I Baker-Finch (Aus) 79 81. 161 *G Yamamoto 84 77. 168 B Casper 79 89. Withdrew: D Ford.

* denotes amateur.