AUGUSTA, Ga. — What's changed? After three rounds, Tiger Woods is tied for the Masters lead and it's as if the guy he's tied with isn't even here. Retief Goosen won the U.S. Open last June, so in the last 10 months, he has more major titles than Tiger. Yet Augusta National is Woods' home course now, and everyone knows it.

        Tiger-proofing? Please.

        He shot a third-round 66 Saturday. That followed eight holes from his rain-delayed second round, in which he was 2-under par. In eight hours, Woods went from lurking to dominating. At age 25, he's already a tradition as big as the azaleas. Maybe bigger: The azaleas have off years.

        “Tiger is going to be the guy to beat,” said Goosen, sounding like someone 10 shots behind. Actually, Goosen led Tiger the whole day, until a bogey on the 18th hole. “I'll just try to play my own game and ignore I'm playing with him.”

Tiger Woods celebrates after he birdied the 18th hole to finish tied for the lead with Retief Goosen. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        Fat chance of that, with the 10-deep Tiger galleries swallowing Goosen, and Woods' tee shots making Goosen feel small. “I'll be 30 yards behind him every time,” he said. “I'll just try to get it close and put pressure on him.”

        This is the effect Woods has at the Masters, more than anywhere else. Call it mystique or aura or tee shots that carry 20 yards farther than yours. Goosen's average drive this week is 277 yards; Tiger checks in at 303, even as the rain-drenched fairways have limited roll.

        At the Masters, Woods knows he's a little bit better than everyone else. So do they. This has nothing to do with longer holes or shifted tee boxes.

        As Woods noted, “I've been here before.”

        The round Saturday was classic Tiger. They added yards to the course this year, to keep him and the other home-run hitters from plopping three-quarter wedge shots onto the par-4 greens. It's been a big success. Instead of hitting a wedge into the green at No.11 Saturday, Woods hit a 9-iron from 162 yards and made a birdie.

        (For all the talk about the changes, the course is playing the way it usually plays. Scores are more dependent on the weather than on tweaks to the course. If you want to know how the scores will be at the Masters, don't ask Jack Nicklaus. Try Pete Delkus.)

        Woods also knew when to apply the brakes. One of Woods' underappreciated strengths is his restraint. He takes what the defense gives him, which is hard to do at Augusta National. It's still a go-for-it place, even with the added length.

        “Some of the holes I want to hit driver, but it's just not the play,” Woods said. He ran the gauntlet of pines at No. 18 — 465 yards, uphill — with a 3-wood off the tee and a 7-iron to 10 feet. He made that, one of only two birdies at the 18th all day.

        And so it goes. Will Woods win? No reason he won't. The course changes were supposed to put a premium on driving accuracy. Of the 10 straightest hitters, only Sergio Garcia has a prayer today. The leaderboard looks like an invite-only assembly of the world's best players: Goosen, Masters champs Vijay Singh and Jose Maria Olazabal, two-time U.S. Open winner Ernie Els and a couple of major-winner wannabes, Garcia and Phil Mickelson.

        They will all chase Woods. He loves this sort of thing. “What we practice for,” Woods called it. By 6:30 tonight, the pines should be calling his name. Again. It's just the Masters. You know: A tradition, like no other.

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