"You don't ever get a break like that."

Trevor Immelman drives off the 14th tee during Saturday's third round. Immelman, of South Africa, shot his third consecutive round in the 60s, putting him at 11-under 205. (Michael Holahan/Staff)

Fred Couples spoke those words 16 years ago, but it seems like only yesterday.

Oh yeah, for Trevor Immelman, it was only yesterday.

Immelman had his Couples moment Saturday, and he could have another one today because of it -- this one in Butler Cabin.

Just as Couples survived a flirtation with Rae's Creek on his way to winning the 1992 Masters, Immelman teased the pond fronting the No. 15 green Saturday.

Couples' tee shot at No. 12 on April 12, 1992, hit the steep creek bank short of the green, yet refused to roll back into the hazard.

Immelman's approach at No. 15 on Saturday hit the putting surface but spun back off, picking up speed. Yet his ball also somehow slowed and stopped on a patch of grass.

"Once it came back, I knew there was a chance it was going to go into the water," Immelman said. "I couldn't quite believe it when it stayed up."

Neither could anyone else.

CBS analyst David Feherty, sitting in the tower at the 15th green, claimed Immelman's ball was "hanging by a blade of grass."

The network's lead commentator, Jim Nantz, called it "the one that almost got away."

Nantz might as well have been talking about the Masters Tournament and not Immelman's shot. If the ball rolls back into the water, he makes bogey at best. A double bogey would be more likely, with two of the toughest holes on the course still to contend with.

And instead of leading Tiger Woods by six shots going into Sunday, Immelman is within striking distance of the world's best player and in a seriously shaky state of mind.

Or as Couples once said, with the green jacket hugging his shoulders, "I'm not so sure what would have happened if it would have went in the water like everybody else's."

Immelman needs to close out this tournament. He's never led a major championship going into the final round. He's contended only twice in 18 starts in the majors.

Yet Couples' major championship record was lacking when he rallied to catch Craig Parry and Raymond Floyd in 1992. He played 22 holes that Sunday because of a Saturday weather delay.

He led by two strokes as he stood on the 12th tee. When his ball miraculously stopped short of Rae's Creek, he calmly chipped up to within a foot of the cup and tapped in for what was the first of seven consecutive pars to finish.

Floyd, then age 49, put the situation in perfect perspective.

"Things like that have to happen for you to win a golf tournament," he said. "You need to get a break at a good time."

Or at least when you need it most. Immelman got it. Now he just needs to finish as strongly as Couples did.