Gary Woodland's front-nine 30 ties Masters record

Under normal circumstances, 3-under 69 in the third round of the Masters is a score that Gary Woodland would gladly take, particularly considering it matches his best round at Augusta National.

But after nine holes Saturday, there was nothing normal about the round Woodland was putting together. At that point, Woodland was eyeing history, having just tied the Masters front-nine scoring record with a sizzling 6-under 30.

“I was thinking a low number,” said Woodland, who made four birdies and one eagle. “I was just trying to birdie every hole. ... I was trying to ride the momentum coming in.”

Woodland got another birdie, and to 7 under for his round on No. 10, but the momentum swung from there. A disastrous double bogey on No. 12 derailed Woodland, and he never rekindled the front-nine fire, shooting a second nine 39to get to even-par 216 for the tournament.

I just made a couple bad swings coming in, and it cost me,” Woodland said. “I just have to say I shot 3 under and move on. ... Hopefully, I can go have another low one (Sunday) and see where that stands.”

Woodland’s front-nine 30 stands as one of only five such scores in Masters history, joining those of Johnny Miller (1975), Greg Norman (1988), K.J. Choi (2004) and Phil Mickelson (2009). Woodland began his round with a bang, draining a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 1 and following with a kick-in eagle on No. 2 after hitting a 7-iron from 209 yards to less than 2 feet.

“I hit a great shot in there on 1 and then made a putt,” Woodland said. “I hadn’t seen a lot of putts go in this week, and I get one on the first hole. That really got the momentum going, and I carried it on.”

Once Woodland got rolling, he seemingly could do no wrong. After three straight pars — narrowly missing birdie on No. 5 by inches — Woodland caught fire. He stuck his tee shot on par-3 No. 6 to 6 feet and rolled in the birdie. Following a tricky two-putt par on No. 7, Woodland canned a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 8 and followed with a birdie on No. 9 when he stuck his approach to 6 feet.

As the birdies piled up, so did the numbers in the gallery, and the roars only boosted Woodland’s adrenaline.

“I felt the momentum, and it was definitely getting louder and louder,” Woodland said. “I wasn’t sure if that was just more people showing up later in the day or because of the way I was playing. But I was definitely feeding off that early for sure.”

The momentum carried over to No. 10, where Woodland crushed a 3-wood off the tee and had just 147 yards to the hole. He again delivered a brilliant shot, sticking a pitching wedge to 2 feet and getting to 7 under for his round and 4 under for the tournament. That tied him for second at that point, with the leaders yet to tee off.

And at that point, forget the front-nine record. Woodland was in great position to challenge the single-round Masters record of 63, posted by Greg Norman (1996) and Nick Price (1986).

“I was riding it,” Woodland said. “I knew I had par 5s ahead of me. I knew I had some holes I could attack.”

Sometimes attacking can backfire at Augusta National, particularly on Nos. 11 and 12, the first two of Amen Corner’s three holes. And it certainly cost Woodland.

After another long drive on No. 11, Woodland sent his approach just long. His putt back onto the green hung up and left him with a 10-foot tester for par that he narrowly missed. With the pin tucked front left on No. 12, Woodland stayed aggressive and went for it instead of safely hitting to the middle of the green.

The result was disastrous. His wedge came up short and rolled back off the front bank and into Rae’s Creek. Woodland dropped and narrowly avoided a major catastrophe when his pitch trickled off the front of the green but stayed up on the front fringe instead of joining the tee shot in the creek.

“I knew I had to hit it good, and I hit it a little bit heavy,” Woodland said of the wedge off the tee. “I had to drop out of the rough, and I got fortunate the ball stayed up. It’s not a good shot to have to hit, almost as uncomfortable as the tee shot.”

The double bogey dropped Woodland back to 4 under for his round, though he quickly got a shot back with birdie on the par-5 13th after reaching the green in two. But Woodland bogeyed from the pines on No. 14 and finished with bogey on 18 when he hit his approach into the front left sand bunker, each time just missing par-saving putts of less than 10 feet.

“To be honest, I only missed a couple of shots,” Woodland said. “Unfortunately, they were off the tee box the last couple of holes coming in, and that cost me. All in all, I’m playing great.”