Remember the week when Tiger Woods set a record for the Masters at 18 under par? Or the day when Jack Nicklaus came home in a dazzling 30 for his 18th major? Or the ones when Gary Player won with a closing 64 and Nick Faldo with a 65?

They all seemed from a different world watching this year's Augusta action, which has seen the highest scoring in the tournament's history and the game's greatest players tee off with the intention of damage limitation.

Some successfully, some horribly unsuccessfully.

The halfway leaders, Brett Wetterich and Tim Clark, handed in cards of 83 and 80 respectively on Saturday. They did not have a single birdie between them.

The 60-strong field were a cumulative 323 over par for the day - an average of 77.35. Nobody broke 70 and 12 failed to break 80.

In all but one of the previous Masters somebody under par has led with a round to go. Never before had it gone to one over, but as the cold wind spared no prisoners Stuart Appleby sat on the top of the leaderboard at two over overnight.

The 35-year-old Australian came from three behind Clark and Wetterich to one ahead of Tiger Woods and Justin Rose, despite scoring only a 73. And while a triple bogey seven on the 17th might have ruined many a day's work, Appleby simply had to tell himself everybody else was suffering somewhere.

Woods bogeyed the 17th and 18th as he had in the opening round, but it was still a performance - a level-par 72 - that had moved the world No 1 from 15th to joint second and right there to bid for a third successive major, a 13th in all and his fifth green jacket.

That finish, though, did cast doubts about whether his game was in good enough shape for him to pull it off - and he had never had to come from behind for any of his 12 major wins.

Rose repeated his second round 75, yet had not shot himself in the foot as he did when crashing off the leaderboard with a third round 81 on his last visit three years ago.

Padraig Harrington was only two behind with 18 holes to go, despite an eight at the 15th on Thursday and a seven there on Saturday.

Harrington's best is fifth - five times. At Augusta in 2002, the US Open in 2000 and last year and the Open in 1997 and 2002.

As soon as the temperature was high enough greenkeeping staff started to spray some water on putting surfaces that by late Saturday had become so difficult as to be scary.

The first indications were that the course was set up somewhat easier, presumably because of a forecast of strong winds again later in the day.

In the end, the final scores at the top of the leaderboard were over par.

And that is a rarity in itself.