Years of combating back problems have taught Rocco Mediate one thing: Worry about only what he can control.

Rocco Mediate discusses his putt on the third green with his caddie, Brandon Antus, during the third round. He parred the hole. (Andrew Davis Tucker/Staff)

"That's the only way to deal with things," he said. "You can't control how someone sets up their course or whether it rains or not or how well someone else plays. You just deal with it."

Mediate, a 21-year professional and winner of five PGA Tour events, dealt with it last week, right into the final twosome of the Masters Tournament.

Mediate is still in the thick of it after four holes of his suspended third round. He birdied two of those holes and stands at 5-under par - tied for second with Tim Clark, one shot behind leader Chad Campbell.

It was a continuation of the easy pace with which Mediate toured the difficult Augusta National Golf Club last week.

Mediate opened the tournament with rounds of 68 and 73 to enter the third round at 3-under 141 and a spot in the last twosome with Campbell.

Because of a rain delay that began shortly after 1 p.m. and lasted until 5:20, Mediate and Campbell didn't tee off until just before 7 and finished four holes before the round was suspended because of darkness.

Mediate and 35 other players will return this morning to resume their third rounds.

Mediate made the most of his short day, parring the first hole on a 5-foot putt, making a short birdie putt at the par-5 second hole and adding a 6-footer for birdie at the difficult par-4 fourth hole. It was in contrast to Campbell, who birdied his first two holes to get to 8 under, but then bogeyed his next two.

Two hours before he began, Mediate held court on the back porch of the clubhouse, talking about anything a gaggle of reporters wanted to bring up: golf, the Steelers' NFL schedule, poker (his newest hobby) and his aching back.

Mostly, Mediate talked about his chances to win the Masters today, given a course made softer and longer by the rain Saturday, and the fact that the Big Five - Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els - are also in contention.

Mediate watches his shot from the first fairway during the third round. Saturday's rain delay kept him from teeing off until almost 7 p.m. He managed to finish four holes and will finish the rest of the round this morning. (Chris Thelen/Staff)

"I've got to do something special, something really special," he said. "Because Tiger, Vijay, Retief, Phil and Ernie can win this with an average round. That means I've got to do some special things out there."

Such as?

"I've got to hit fairways, know which places to miss, and make a lot of putts," Mediate said. "The course is going to play longer. I know that. But the greens are also going to be holding better. The bottom line is that the guys who can hit it longer will have shorter clubs and have a better chance at getting the ball closer. I'm not complaining about that. It's a fact of life. But I'm not out of this."

Mediate said that if his back feels good when he wakes up this morning, his swing probably will feel good.

That leaves one big issue today. Will a course playing longer because of the rain reduce his chances?

"If I didn't think I could play, I wouldn't have come," he said. "What I'm doing with my golf swing is working. I've felt good for a couple of months, and I think I'll feel good the rest of this week."