US Masters: Tiger told off by mum after erratic round proves the first major test of his resolve

During the third round, Woods seemed on the verge of throwing away any chance he had to win the Masters.

"Bogey?" Mrs Woods yelled out from her vantage point off the seventh fairway. "Come on now, stop that."

Woods was worried himself. He couldn't figure out the speed of the greens, some of his shots were going sideways, and two early birdies seemed like a distant memory.

And that thing he promised about controlling himself on the golf course? One bad swing on the par-3 sixth took care of that.

"Tiger, you suck," Woods muttered, before adding a curse for good measure. All caught by TV microphones, of course, for the listening pleasure of millions watching an afternoon of Masters drama play out on a gorgeous Saturday.

Informed that he cursed, Woods said, "Did I? If I did, then I'm sorry."

Being Tiger Woods once meant never having to say you're sorry. So count that in Woods' favour, even if weeks in therapy haven't changed everything about the world's greatest golfer.

Indeed, after a wild round left him still within striking distance on Sunday, it was clear one vital thing was still the same – Woods still has the resolve that made him so feared for so many years.

"That's fine. That's never a problem," Woods said, referring to his mental toughness before repeating himself for emphasis. "That's not a problem."

No, the problem was the swing that had served Woods so well in the first two days of his comeback from a scandal. The putter disappeared for long stretches, too, in an erratic round that seemed to confound Woods as much as it did his mother.

Kultida Woods couldn't do anything about it, though she offered a running commentary to Nike chairman Phil Knight as they followed her son around the course, and following them was a uniformed deputy sheriff.

After Woods hit his first putt up a big hill and well past the hole on No6, she explained to Knight that the putt was just too tough.

"If you do not putt it hard it will come down," she said. "It's a hard putt. A hard putt."

Despite two birdies on the first three holes that moved Woods to within one shot of the lead he was seven shots back and heading in the wrong direction when he plunked it in the sand on the par-3 12th. But he got up-and-down for par, then went birdie-birdie-birdie before following a bogey on No17 with a birdie on the final hole.

The final tally was seven birdies and five bogeys, but it could have been a lot worse. It left him tied for third, four strokes off the lead, and with a smile on his face.

"I fought as hard as I possibly could to get myself back in the ballgame," Woods said. "At one point I was seven back and to fight back there and to get it where I'm only four back right now was a pretty big accomplishment."

Woods in red on Sunday in the next-to-last group at the Masters is compelling enough even in normal times. And if the last five months have proved anything, these are not normal times.

Meanwhile, YE Yang had the best seat in the house for Phil Mickelson's show at Augusta.

Yang was paired with Mickelson on Saturday, the fifth straight round they've played together, going back to last weekend in Houston. Mickelson made up four shots on Lee Westwood in just two holes, making an 8-foot eagle putt on the 13th and holing out a wedge on the 14th.

"I've gotten used to him. ... He makes players comfortable," said Yang, the PGA champion. "Fortunately for me today I was in a good area, good seat, to watch him play some incredible golf. So I was in spectator mode today."

It might have inspired Yang a little, too. After a bogey on 12 left him at 3 over for the day, Yang worked his way back to even par, closing the round with a 33-foot birdie putt.

Yang is tied for ninth at 5 under, seven shots behind leader Westwood.

"The goal is still the same," Yang said, "finish in the top 10."