Augusta, Ga. ? There were moments when Tiger Woods looked like he had never played at the Masters, let alone won it three times.

Errant drives, off-target approaches and, most notably, a few unfathomable reads on the greens turned the third round at Augusta National into a mess for Woods. He shot 3-over-par 75 and wound up at 3 over, tied for 20th place, nine shots behind leaders Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco.

It’s folly, of course, to count Woods completely out of any tournament, no matter what the deficit. But after Saturday, it’s hard to imagine him being fitted for a fourth green jacket.

“I’m very close to putting it all together,” he said. “I made absolutely nothing today. If I make a few and put the ball in the fairway tomorrow — I have 18 chances at it — hopefully, I’ll putt better than I did today.”

Officially, he needed 30 putts on Saturday, but that number doesn’t tell the whole story.

The most telling episode came on the eighth green. Woods spent a full three minutes circling it, checking out angles and debating with his caddie, Steve Williams, about the 70-foot putt from the fringe he needed to roll over a large hump and down toward the hole.

The extra time didn’t pay off. Woods hit the ball straight across the green, hoping it would reach the top of the hill and feed down. But it got to the top and stopped, leaving him 35 feet from the hole, in need of a tough two-putt for par.

He called it bad luck, in that he didn’t hit the approach another foot or two. He also conceded he was bamboozled by the first putt, a surprising statement from a player who has mastered this course during the past seven years.

“I had absolutely no chance at it,” he said. “I didn’t know whether it was going to go left or going to go right. That’s how it goes.

“As we know, anything can happen. I just want to come out and play well.”