Jack Nicklaus just kept coming up short in the third round of the 61st Masters.

The six-time Masters champion shot a 2-over-par 74 and has a three-day total of 5-over-par 221.

He said the conditions on Saturday were actually easier than you might expect despite the morning rain but the wind could fool you.

``There is a little bit of wind out there which is actually a tricky wind,'' Nicklaus said. ``The wind is sort of going in different directions and you're never really sure what it is going to do.''

Nicklaus shot a 2-over-par 38 on the front nine and an even-par 36 on the back nine in the third round. He had bogeys at No. 3, No. 5 and No. 7 that hurt him and only one birdie - No. 8.

Even though he didn't have one of his best days, he expected the good scores that were posted by players such as Tiger Woods' 7-under-par 65, Tom Kite's 6-under-par 66, Tom Watson's 3-under-par 69 and Paul Stankowski's 3-under-par 69.

The 57-year-old said it was easy to get the ball around the hole even though he struggled with his putting.

``The only problem was the greens, you expect them to be fast, but they were not nearly as fast (as usual),'' Nicklaus said. ``I was short all day long. It (his play) was sort of disappointing from that standpoint.''

He felt he could compete with everyone this week coming into the Masters. But now he feels he's out of reach of Tiger Woods, who is the runaway leader going into today's final round.

Nicklaus and Ray Floyd hold the tournament record score at 17-under-par 271. Nicklaus shot the score in 1965.

``I don't worry about that,'' Nicklaus said. ``Records are made to be broken.''

Nicklaus is tied with three others for the fourth-lowest score, 5-under-par 211, after three rounds in Masters history. Ray Floyd, 8-under-208, set the mark in 1976 while Seve Ballesteros was second, 7-under-209 in 1980 and Greg Norman is third with his 6-under-210 last year before his infamous collapse.

Woods' ability to drive the ball long and some of the other players as well, reminds Nicklaus of when he was in his prime.

``There are probably eight or 10 guys out here who hit the ball very long and they would have an advantage on this golf course,'' Nicklaus said. ``Just as I had that same advantage 20 years ago on everybody else. It's a golf course that you must drive the ball long, well I shouldn't say you must, but if you do drive the ball long, you have a tremendous advantage.''