Tiger Woods, using the long-absent putting prowess that made him a 14-time major champion, roared into contention as he reached the back nine in the final round of the 75th Masters.
Woods, Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy and South African Charl Schwartzel were level for the lead at 10-under as the tension mounted on a hot day over the undulating greens of Augusta National.
Woods, who has not won in 21 starts since the 2009 Australian Masters and the eruption of his infamous sex scandal 17 months ago, made four birdies and an eagle on the front nine, which he finished with a clutch 10-foot par putt.
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After starting the round seven strokes behind leader Rory McIlroy, Woods served notice that he would not surrender quietly to a generation he helped inspire as he moved to win his first major title when trailing after 54 holes.
Seventh-ranked Woods, chasing the all-time record of 18 majors won by Jack Nicklaus, has not won a Masters since 2005 and not won any major since the 2008 US Open.
Woods appeared lost after a 74 on Saturday, but the four-time Masters champion birdied the par-5 second and sank a four-foot birdie putt at the third before he three-putted the par-3 fourth, missing an eight-footer for par.
Woods answered with birdies on the par-3 sixth and par-4 seventh and sank an eight-foot eagle putt on the par-5 eighth, pumping his fist as the crowd roared with joy. Woods then curled in a par at the ninth to keep a share of the lead.
Schwartzel, who began four shots behind McIlroy, chipped in for an unlikely birdie from across a mound at the first hole and landed a wedge shot from the fairway at the third that rolled back into the cup for eagle to reach 11-under and match McIlroy briefly for the lead.
McIlroy, also seeking his first major title, saw his four-stroke edge vanish before he had completed even two holes thanks in part to a miserable start.
The 21-year-old Ulsterman went over the green at the first hole and paid the price, pushing a four-foot par putt left for a bogey.
McIlroy, who had only three bogeys through 54 holes, found a bunker off the tee at the second, hit the lip of the trap blasting out, put the ball in more sand greenside, blasted six feet past a cup across the green and made the par putt to keep a share of the lead.
Schwartzel took a bogey at the fourth to stumble one back of McIlroy as Woods joined him for second.
A group at eight-under on the front nine included South Korean K.J. Choi, Australian Jason Day and Argentina's Angel Cabrera, the 2009 Masters champion playing alongside McIlroy in the final group, which has produced 19 of the past 20 Masters champions.
Schwartzel, who made it to Augusta only off his 2010 year-end top 50 world ranking, could capture his first major title 50 years after countryman Gary Player became the first Masters winner from outside America.
McIlroy, a 21-year-old from Northern Ireland in only his 10th major tournament, could complete a wire-to-wire victory and become the first European to win the Masters since Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal in 1999.
McIlroy stood on 12-under par 204 after 54 holes for a four-stroke edge, the largest Masters lead entering the final round since Woods led by nine on his way to the 1997 title, a victory that helped push McIlroy into playing golf.
The Ulsterman could become the second-youngest Masters winner, eight months and nine days older than Woods when he won his first major in 1997.
McIlroy can be the first of a set of young stars to claim a major, the envy of rivals like teens Ryo Ishikawa of Japan and Matteo Manassero of Italy and sub-24-year-olds Jason Day of Australia and Rickie Fowler of the United States.
McIlroy, ranked ninth, already has three third-place showings in majors, including the 2009 and 2010 PGA Championships and last year's British Open, where he opened with a 63 only to follow with an 80 at wind-swept St. Andrews.
The Ulsterman led the field in driving distance at 303.3 yards and ranks second in greens in regulation in his pursuit of the $1.44 million top prize from the $8 million purse.
Day was trying to become the first Australian to win the Masters, the only major that golfers from Down Under have never claimed, and become the first player since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 to win in his Masters debut.
For the first time, no American was in the top five at the Masters when the final round began.
