Phil Mickelson can either make history Sunday at the 65th Masters Tournament or simply be witness to it.

Entering Sunday's final round trailing Tiger Woods by one stroke, Mickelson has a chance to carve his niche in the Masters record books. With a sub-70 round, the 30-year-old Mickelson would become the first player in Masters history to post four rounds in the 60s.

Still, accomplishing such a feat won't guarantee Mickelson the place in history he truly covets, what with Woods on the verge of becoming the first man in modern history to hold all four major championship titles at the same time.

Woods and Mickelson, the top two players in the world, will be paired as the final group in today's final round at 2:55 p.m.

Mickelson knows his place in Masters history will be defined by the green jackets he wins, not by his low rounds and close calls.

"The way I look at it, the winner of this tournament doesn't just win a major. He becomes a part of the history of the game, and that's what excites me," said Mickelson, who still is in search of his first major after nine years on the PGA Tour.

"This tournament creates something that is very special, and year-in and year-out, history is made here, and I want to be part of that. That's why this tournament means so much to me."

The risk-reward nature of Mickelson's approach to playing the Augusta National Golf Club course again was evident during Saturday's third round, and it actually may have cost him the lead.

On his third shot at the par-4 14th, Mickelson used a lob wedge to try to stick his trademark flop shot close to the pin, but his ball rolled back down off the ridge of the green to about 30 feet from the hole. He three-putted from there for double-bogey.

Afterward, Mickelson was asked if he would approach the shot differently if he had it to do over.

"That shot on 14 was a foot from becoming somewhat close to the hole or having a pretty easy par," he said. "If I went left of the ridge, it is going to be right back down, and if I go right back of the ridge, it is going to go 30 feet by. So I felt the shot I played was not an unintelligent shot. It didn't come off that badly. It just was 30 feet and I three-putted. To be honest with you, I was expecting to miss [the flop shot], with as hard as that ground is."

While Mickelson also made bogey at the par-5 8th hole, he finished with six birdies on Saturday, including at Nos. 17 and 18.

His third-round playing partner, Steve Stricker, says Mickelson still is in great position to win the tournament, despite the trouble on 14.

"I've been watching him on TV even in the weeks when I've not been playing, and that has kind of been his trend," said Stricker, who shot a 71 on Saturday to move five strokes off the lead, tied for 10th. "He throws in a big number, but then he comes back and throws in some birdies, like he did today. He's just hanging in there, and that's going to pay off. Tomorrow is his day."

He'll need a big day to take his place in Masters history.

"I desperately want this," Mickelson said. "Very much so."