Masters Misery for Harrington

Padraig Harrington's quest to become just the third man in history to win three majors in a row looked to be shattered as he took a disastrous quadruple-bogey nine at the second in the third round of the Masters on Saturday.

The 37-year-old Dubliner, who won back-to-back British Opens and last summer's US PGA Championship titles, pulled his drive into a sunken, wooded area to the left of the fairway and his first attempt to get out clattered into a tree and dug deeper into trouble.

Harrington finally blasted out but the damage was done and he eventually limped off with a nine at the par-five hole.

That sent him tumbling off the leaderboard at two over for the tournament, 11 behind co-leaders Chad Campbell and Kenny Perry, who had yet to tee off.

There also was trouble early on for Tiger Woods as he double bogeyed the par-four first, fluffing a chip from the right of the green and then three-putting.

A birdie at the short par-four third partially repaired the damage.

The world No. 1 was facing a make or break day in the third round.

Two under for the tournament after rounds of 70 and 72, he teed off in the third round seven strokes behind Campbell and Perry in a tie for 19th place.

His largest deficit at this stage of the tournament before rallying for victory was in 2005 when he clawed back a six-stroke deficit to defeat Crhis DiMarco in a playoff.

The course was playing longer after a violent thunderstorm swept through the Augusta area overnight soaking the terrain, added to which devilish pin-placements made low scoring difficult.

Best of the early starters was Colombia's Camilo Villegas, who birdied the second and third to get to four under for the tournament.

Lee Westwood of England and Aaron Baddeley of Australia also picked up early birdies, but Paul Casey's hopes took a hammering as his putting let him down at the fifth where the Englishman took four on the green for a double bogey.

Both Campbell and Perry will be bidding to win their first majors and if Perry, 48 years and eight months old, succeeds he will be the oldest player ever to win a major, erasing from the record books Julius Boros - who won the the 1968 US PGA at 48 years and four months.

The penultimate group out comprised two players who have each won one major and then fallen on hard times.

Angel Cabrera of Argentina, who is just one shot off the lead on 136, has done little since winning the US Open in 2007, while Todd Hamilton, a further two shots back, has been in the shadows since winning the 2004 British Open.

There were other subplots to watch for on a Saturday which saw perfect sunny conditions greet the 50 survivors after a night of violent thunderstorms and torrential rain.

Two-time former winner Phil Mickelson battled his way back into contention with a 68 to stand just six off the lead while Spain's Sergio Garcia heads the European challenge on 140.

World No.2 Mickelson said after his second round that Saturday could be tough on the players. He opened well with a birdie at the second.

Also well in the hunt were 23-year-old American Anthony Kim, whose 11 birdies on Friday were a Masters record.