On every morning of Paul Casey’s first appearance at The Masters, he and his excited entourage drove down Magnolia Lane with the theme from Caddyshack blasting through the car stereo. Four years on, he is older, wiser, and a little more circumspect when it comes to sharing his thoughts, but the young Englishman still gets a kick out of Augusta National.

Casey is a good-time guy, an adventurous soul who loves fast cars and going low, which is why he will have the time of his life in today’s mouth-watering climax to the season’s first major. He is in fourth place, four shots behind leader Trevor Immelman, after a 69 that included six birdies and three bogeys. He showed no fear yesterday, and is unlikely to show any today.

In a damp but gripping third round at Augusta National, when play was interrupted by a 40-minute weather delay, Immelman consolidated his position as overnight leader with a three-under-par 69. He is on 11 under for the tournament, two clear of Brandt Snedeker, and three ahead of Steve Flesch, with Casey a shot further back.

On five under par lurks the familiar figure of Tiger Woods, who has just about crept into view. That’s right, the world No 1, seven shots behind when he set off, his date with history all but cancelled, made menacing progress up the leaderboard, albeit without the customary drama. It wasn’t grand, but the Grand Slam is still on. Just.

Catching Immelman, though, will be a sizeable task, for the South African is no mug. Despite a period of ill health, he is 29th in the world, and possessed of a swing his fellow South African, Gary Player, compares to Ben Hogan. The 27-year-old, diagnosed with a tumour on his diaphragm last December, still has a six-inch scar to show for its removal, but has certainly moved on from that. The overnight leader made no progress on the front nine, but birdies on the 13th and 14th, the first after a punched shot that left his ball stone dead, made the difference.

When a misjudged wedge to the 15th green spun back and headed for the creek, before somehow stopping on the steep bank, he knew it was his day. That much was confirmed on the last when his sumptuous approach to three feet set up birdie.

Casey was no slouch either. The man who tied for sixth here in 2004, and has the ball flight to suit the challenge, declared his intentions on the opening hole with a fairway bunker shot that landed just 15ft from the hole. He picked up four shots on his front nine, and missed three short birdie putts into the bargain. Although he birdied the 13th, his first significant mistake came on the par-five 15th, when his drive found trees on the right, and from the resulting lay-up, his chip dived through the back of the green. There was another bogey on the 17th, but nothing that betrayed weakness. “It was a wonderful round,” he said. “Of course, I made a couple of mistakes, but if you played a perfect round on this course, that would be an incredible thing.”

It wasn’t such a good day for Casey’s fellow Englishmen, who were struggling to stay in touch. After Justin Rose’s ignominious collapse on Friday night, Ian Poulter’s 75 included a double-bogey on the 10th. He is on two under par, the same as Lee Westwood, who carded a 73. Nick Dougherty started well, with two birdies in his first six holes, but settled down to a 74 that leaves him one over for the tournament.

Padraig Harrington is on two-under after a 69. The Irishman hadn’t really fancied his chances, so mediocre were his performances on Thursday and Friday, but three birdies in his last four holes have granted him a chink of light. “Who knows?” he asked. “I hear tomorrow is going to be a cold, blustery day. It could make it awkward for the leaders out there. My eye is on the leaders.”

The picture postcard that is Augusta National wasn’t its usual self yesterday. In the early part of a soggy third round, a sea of umbrellas lapped up against the ropes, the atmosphere was muffled by rainwear and the still waters of Rae’s Creek, so often a reflection of the course’s majesty, were blurred by persistent rainfall.

But, if you walked down Magnolia Lane, round the venue’s whitewashed clubhouse and out on to the course beyond, a familar feature of the season’s first major came into view. As the day wore on, the rain cleared, and there on the giant leaderboards, beside the first tee and 18th green, after a long and conspicuous absence, was the name everyone had been waiting for.

It was around 4pm Georgia time that Woods first saw his name in lights, prompting murmurs of “here we go” and “told you so”, and if there was a way to go before he could claim to be in contention, he was edging forward with a hint of menace.

It has been another of these weeks in which Woods has kept himself in the hunt without ever approximating his best. Although steadier yesterday, his reading of the greens was dodgy, and his driving unreliable: the stuff of Grand Slams this assuredly was not, but by hanging in there, and demonstrating nothing so much as a deep reserve of patience, he still had them looking over their shoulders with that haunted look.

In this, the first of the four majors he was being tipped to win in a calendar year, the American had been in danger of slipping too far back until a late rally in Friday’s second round. As they emerged from the practice range yesterday, he was on one under par, seven shots off the pace, but he gradually worked away at the deficit.

Despite missing makeable birdie putts on six and seven, he birdied the second, 10th and 13th to put himself right in the thick of it. Those, though, were the pre-amble to a spectacular three on the par-four 17th, which could have been even better. His approach from the fairway soared over the top of the flag and spun back almost into the hole. The tap-in for par was a formality. “I could read that one,” he joked later.

There was time for one last moment of drama. His drive off the 18th tee found trees on the right, just as it had in his second round, when he was forced to play up the 10th fairway. This time, he slashed an eight iron through a gap in the branches, and watched as it flew 180 yards to a spot on the green’s bottom tier. Two putts were duly negotiated, and a 69 signed for. “That was the highest I could have scored, but I’ve put myself right back in the tournament,” he said.

If Rose had any lingering hopes of making up for the triple-bogey that derailed his tournament on Friday, they were well and truly buried by another difficult day at the National. The young Englishman, whose eight on the par-five 15th signalled the end of another promising Masters before his second round was even finished, looked to be suffering from a hangover yesterday. A holed bunker shot for birdie on the par-three 16th provided light relief, but by the time it was all over, and his 73 recorded, he was on three over for the tournament. “It was really hard work, a lack of adrenaline, big time,” he said later.

And so, for Rose, the first-round leader, it has been another of those cruel, and painfully familiar weeks in which his potential is blown up in all its glory, only to be punctured in the most brutal fashion. This, remember, is the man who led the 2004 tournament at the halfway stage, only to shoot 81 on Saturday. Last year, when he was also ahead after 18 holes, he opened his third round with two bogeys, and his fourth with four dropped shots in as many holes.

On each of those occasions, he rediscovered his rhythm, and his self-respect. Which is why, in today’s final round, he will try to go low once again. If the Green Kacket is no longer at stake, his pride certainly is.