He entered as the overwhelming favorite to win the 65th Masters Tournament, and if recent history means anything, you've got to like Tiger Woods' chances even more now.

Six of the past 10 Masters champions, and three of the past four, were leading the tournament after three rounds. And even if you go back as far as 1980, almost half the eventual winners (10 of 21) carried a lead into Sunday.

In all, 35 third-round leaders at the Masters - 46 percent - went on to win the tournament.

Woods led after two rounds in 1997 and, as they say, the rest is history. At 21, he shattered the 72-hole tournament scoring mark with a four-day total of 18-under-par 270, defeating Tom Kite by a record 12 strokes.

In the 22 PGA Tour events in which Woods either led or shared the lead after three rounds, he's won 20 of them.

A year ago, it was Vijay Singh who entered the final round with a three-shot lead over David Duval, despite having to complete his third round early Sunday morning after darkness suspended play on Saturday.

In 1999, Jose Maria Olazabal grabbed the lead after two rounds and never relinquished it, thanks in part to key birdie putts on Nos. 13 and 16 on Sunday to hold off Greg Norman and a late charge by Davis Love III.

Of the four previous Masters champions, only Mark O'Meara wasn't the three-round leader. In 1998, O'Meara never held the lead until his final birdie putt at 18 on Sunday, which gave him a dramatic victory by one stroke over Fred Couples and Duval.

Of course, the greatest collapse in Masters history felled third-round leader Norman in 1996. Norman held a seemingly insurmountable six-shot lead over Nick Faldo entering Sunday, but his final-round 78 gave Faldo, who fired a 67, his third green jacket.

In recent years, several other prominent players also have failed to close the deal.

Tom Lehman led after three rounds in 1994 before Olazabal rallied to win it down the stretch, buoyed by an eagle at No. 15 on Sunday.

Raymond Floyd, the 1976 Masters champion, was the 54-hole leader by three strokes over Faldo in 1990, and extended that lead to four with six holes to play. But with birdies on Nos. 13, 15 and 16 and a bogey by Floyd at 17, Faldo forced a playoff and defeated Floyd on the second extra hole.

One year earlier, in 1989, third-round leader Ben Crenshaw shot a respectable final-round 71 on Sunday, but Faldo's 65 and Scott Hoch's 69 gave them a share of the lead after 72 holes, with Faldo winning his first Masters on the second playoff hole, No. 11.

Since 1980, other Masters champions who held on to win after a 54-hole lead: Bernhard Langer in 1993; Ian Woosnam in 1991; Sandy Lyle in 1988; Craig Stadler in 1982; Tom Watson in 1981 and Seve Ballesteros in 1980.

Singh, who fell to a tie for 23rd place on Saturday after a third-round 1-over-par 73, said it is difficult to recall his approach to leading after 54 holes.

``It was a year ago, so I really don't know what I was thinking,'' Singh said. ``I was excited, I guess.''