GolfWeb Wire Services

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- This was supposed to be the Masters that would put the stamp of greatness on David Duval. This was where he and Tiger Woods were going to duel down the stretch Sunday at Augusta National and make history.

Hang on. It might still happen.

With the leaders backing up under third-round pressure, Duval and Woods got out early Saturday and quietly put together matching 70s to move within a possible back nine eagle or two from the lead.

Suddenly, instead of figuring out a way to get out of sleepy Augusta early Sunday afternoon, they were trying to figure a way to win a green jacket.

"I'm in good shape for tomorrow," Woods said after moving to 214, 2-under-par after three rounds and within five shots of leader José Maria Olazábal. "Anything can happen on that back nine on Sunday."

Duval was another shot back, but still hopeful.

"I might have a chance," Duval said. "I was just hoping to get back into it today and it looks like I have."

For a while Saturday, it didn't look like that was going to happen.

Woods still needs a bunch of birdies, but there's still hope. (AP)

A day that began with Woods and Duval eight and nine shots back, respectively, wasn't getting much better as the world's top two golfers struggled on the front nine. Woods bogeyed No. 9 to go back to even for the day, while Duval shot a 1-over 37.

Then, making the turn only a group apart, with some inviting holes just ahead, things started getting better in a hurry.

Duval plunged into Amen Corner with a vengeance, making birdies on 11, 12 and 13. Just behind him was Woods, who stumbled with a bogey on 11 and was 1 over before he stuck a 7-iron about eight feet from a treacherous pin on the par-5 13th and rolled in the putt for eagle.

Two holes later, Woods was staring at another eagle putt on 15. He left the putt tantalizingly short but tapped in for a birdie.

In the space of two separate three-hole stretches, with the leaders foundering, Woods and Duval got themselves at least on the fringes of the hunt.

"You just have to hang in there and keep patient," Woods said. "I was hoping to play those holes 3 or 4 under and I played them 3. So I'm happy."

The taciturn Duval doesn't usually use words like happy, but he, too, appeared pleased.

A 2-under 70 gives Duval a glimmer of hope. (AP)

"I certainly feel a little better taking a few shots off," he said. "The only problem is I just might be a little far behind for it to matter."

Duval, riding a hot streak that saw him win two straight tournaments coming into the Masters, was actually tied for the lead at 3 under in Thursday's opening round before making three straight bogeys sandwiched around a storm delay to shoot a 71.

A triple-bogey eight on 15 Friday appeared to doom his chances, but he came back with a birdie on the final hole to give him some confidence going into the weekend at 1 over, nine shots out of the lead held by Olazabal.

"Nothing ever surprises me here," Duval said. "You never really know what's going to happen out here. I've just made a couple bad decisions, had a couple bad yardages and a couple bad shots."

Woods, who won his only Masters in 1997 by turning a nine-shot third-round lead into a 12-shot romp, also had an eight in this tournament in his first round and will have to come back from a handful of shots to catch Olazabal.

Complicating matters is the number of good golfers in between who have already won majors, including the likes of Greg Norman, Davis Love III, Lee Janzen and Steve Elkington.

"He (Duval) knows as well as I do that we can't focus on each other. We need to get off to quick starts and carry the momentum into the back nine," Woods said. "That has to be our objective, to have a chance on the back nine."

AP NEWS The Associated Press News Service Copyright 1999, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved