Jim Souhan: Two keep Tiger trailing

Trevor Immelman -11

Brandt Snedeker -9

Steve Flesch -8

Paul Casey -7

Tiger Woods -5

Notables: Stewart Cink -4; Zach Johnson -2; Phil Mickelson -2.

AUGUSTA, GA. - As daylight faded, Trevor Immelman and Brandt Snedeker walked the back nine at Augusta National in the wake of Tiger Woods' latest third-round comeback. Torrents of fans had streamed from the course, and the stoic South African and the buoyant Tennessean looked like the latest victims of the gravitational pull Woods exerts on Saturdays at the Masters.

Just when Woods seemed ready to reel in the leaders like so many sport fish, though, Immelman and Snedeker rallied, ensuring they will play in the final group of the Masters today. By the time they both birdied the daunting 18th hole, you could hear South African accents cheering "Trev-aah!" and Southern accents yelling "Brrrandt!" as the unlikely pair seized temporary control of the tournament.

Immelman spent last year's Masters eating Imodium and toast after picking up a parasite. Today will present a different sort of challenge to his intestinal fortitude. He leads at 11 under par, two shots ahead of Snedeker and six ahead of Woods, and he could become the first player in Masters history to shoot four rounds in the 60s.

Countryman Gary Player this week compared Immelman's ball-striking to Ben Hogan's, and each passing day provides more evidence why.

Hogan once said: "You want to make more putts? Hit it closer to the hole." Immelman is Hogan's heir in that regard, as he made kick-in birdies at 13 and 18. "I would say from about the 10th hole I really controlled my ball as well as I have in the past," Immelman said. "Under that sort of pressure, I was pretty proud of myself."

Steve Flesch -- the "other" lefty who played with the backsliding Phil Mickelson on Saturday -- is at 8 under, and Paul Casey is at 7 under. Lurking in fifth place is Woods.

Immelman's accuracy has put him in position to win the tournament, and Snedeker might already be the most popular player on the course without an animal nickname. After being invited to play as an amateur in the 2004 Masters, Snedeker crammed in about 40 rounds at Augusta National, driving more than five hours from Nashville every weekend. "You get that invitation to come play in the Masters, I guess right around Christmas, you come down and play as much as you want," Snedeker said. "And I was out of school, had not turned pro yet, and they almost changed the rule the next year because of me, because I was down here every day. I wore it out. I thought, how many times can I have a membership at Augusta National for four months?"

He may be 18 holes from earning one for life. When someone referred to the challenge of staying ahead of the player in fifth place, Snedeker asked: "Who is the guy in fifth place? 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 leaderboard somewhere tomorrow. It's going to be there on the back nine. You have to realize that Trevor and all of us in front of him, if we go out there and play a good round of golf, he's going to have to play an extremely great round of golf to beat us.

"I know Tiger is going to go out there and shoot 4 or 5 under tomorrow. He played a hell of a round today, and that does not bode well for us if we think we're going to be able to shoot 1 or 2 under and win this golf tournament."

Woods has never won a major without leading after 54 holes, yet Snedeker admits he'll worry. How could he not? "When I figure out how to do that, I think I'll be able to charge some guys out here, get them to pay me because I don't know how, you know what I mean?" Snedeker said. "If he gets off to a great start tomorrow it's going to be in everybody's head."

If Immelman's stomach can handle the back nine on Sunday, Snedeker may gain first-hand knowledge of how to beat Woods in a major: Hit it like Hogan, build a big lead and keep making birdies 'til the sun goes down.