As Rocco Mediate sat down at the dais for his post-round news conference, he noticed the leaderboard on the wall to his left.

``They've got scoreboards everywhere around here,'' he said.

The presence of leaderboards wasn't Saturday's only revelation for the 38-year-old PGA Tour veteran. Mediate amazed even himself with a 6-under-par 66, the low round of the day, that vaulted him into contention with a three-day total of 8-under 208.

Thanks to a sizzling short game, the resident of Ponte Vedra, Fla., finds himself in the red-hot cauldron of a Masters Sunday.

``I really don't know what to expect,'' said Mediate, who entered the day at 2-under after a second-round 70. ``I've never been this close.''

Mediate is close thanks largely to a long putter he began using in 1990 because of an ailing back. He birdied four of the last five holes with the broomstick, draining a 6-foot putt on the 18th.

Eleven years ago, Mediate was chided for his switch to the long putter. Now the unconventional stick is trendy with PGA veterans such as Vijay Singh and Mark Calcavecchia, among others.

``Back then, it wasn't looked at as being something a professional would use,'' said Mediate, whose best finish on the PGA Tour in 2001 was second at the Phoenix Open. `` My comment was always ... `I'm trying to make a living, and if you're going to stop me, you'd better do something so I don't get back up.' And no one really bothered me after that.''

Little has bothered Mediate so far in his fifth Masters appearance, particularly on Saturday. He birdied the par-3 fourth by using his 4-iron to get within three feet. He birdied the eighth, then hit a nine-foot downhill putt on the par-4 ninth to make the turn at 5-under.

Things stayed that way until the 14th, where Mediate caught fire to close the round. A wedge set up a 6-foot uphill putt on the 405-yard, par-4 hole, and Mediate was on the front of the green in two strokes on the par-5 15th.

Mediate's putt skittered past the pin and onto the back fringe, but he recovered by draining the putt coming back, to make it 7-under.

A 7-iron set up an 8-foot uphill putt for birdie on the par-3 16th, then Mediate recovered nicely after three-putting for bogey on the 17th. He used a 9-iron on his approach to the 18th to get within 6 feet, and he sank the putt to cap his round.

This putting thing isn't a new phenomenon for Mediate, whose best finish at the Masters was a tie for 22nd in his 1991 rookie appearance. He said he hasn't had a bad day on the greens so far this year. In 1991 - a year after he switched putters - he won the Doral-Ryder Open, becoming the first player to win on the PGA Tour with the long putter.

``All of a sudden, I'm Mr. Putter now,'' Mediate said. ``I feel like I can make all of them.''