Lee Westwood threw down the gauntlet and said, “Catch me if you can.”

Phil Mickelson picked it up and said, “Thank you. I think I will.”

The third round of the 2010 Masters was a classic thrust-and-parry Saturday with one breathtaking shot following another, one birdie deserving another, and finally, eagles landing in their entire splendor at Augusta National Golf Club.

It made for a spectacular display of major championship golf and surely set the stage for a terrific Sunday finish.

Westwood holds the 54-hole lead alone after shooting 68 for a 12-under-par 204 total. Mickelson (67) is one stroke behind at 205, followed by K.J. Choi (70-208) and Tiger Woods (70-208). Woods and Choi have matched scorecards for three rounds and will play together again Sunday for the fourth straight round.

Westwood, the second-round, co-leader bidding to become the first Englishman to win the Green Jacket since Nick Faldo in 1996, tried to run off and hide from the field. After his 11th hole, Westwood had a five shot lead.

In less time than it takes to skip a shot over Rae’s Creek at its narrowest point, Westwood’s lead evaporated in the face of an Arnie-like charge by Mickelson, who amazingly shaved five strokes off par in a three-hole stretch beginning at the 13th.

“The only thing I can control is what I’m doing,” said a confident Westwood. “I found a way to play the course which suits me the best. I think I’m ready. I felt very calm out there today, confident of what I was doing, every aspect of my game felt good.”

Mickelson made eagle at 13 and 14, where he holed a 141-yard approach shot and made birdie at No. 15 where, incredibly, his third shot rolled just past the cup and finished inches beyond.

“You don’t plan on balls like 14 going into the hole,” said Mickelson, the Masters champion in 2004 and 2006. “I haven’t played this well in a long time. I’m looking forward to (Sunday). I love this tournament more than any other. I’m right in it.”

Woods cobbled together a grinding round, capped by a birdie at the 18th.

“I didn’t have the speed on the greens at all, fighting that, fighting the speed, fought as hard as I could to get myself back in the ball game,” Woods said. “At one point I was seven back. To get to four back is a big accomplishment.”

“I warmed up terrible today. I didn’t have control of the ball. I was fighting it then. I fought it all day. One day is always going to be an off-day.”

Fred Couples, the first-round leader, shot 68 for a 7-under-par 209 total. At age 50, he has given himself a chance to become the oldest winner of a major championship.

“I birdied the first two holes and drove the ball extremely well,” said Couples, the popular 1992 Masters champion who chipped in for eagle at the 15th. “Sixty-eight is a very good score.

“I love this place. If I can shoot a crazy score tomorrow … I’ve got one more day and hopefully I can get through it and play well.”

Couples looked back after Mickelson made eagle at the 14th and asked for Mickelson’s golf ball.

“And then I made eagle at the 15th,” Couples said. “I hit the ball really, really well.

Couples knows he has a chance but added, “Phil will be the guy to beat.”

It was the first time Mickelson has made two eagles in the same round at Augusta National – and they came on successive holes.

The feat has been accomplished twice before, and now all three occasions have occurred on the same sequence of holes – the 13th and 14th. Dan Pohl did it during the third round in 1982 and Dustin Johnson in the fourth round last year.

In a 27-minute sequence, Westwood went from a five shot lead to tie for the lead. Soon after Mickelson made his back-to-back eagles, the Englishman made bogey at the 12th hole and they were tied at 11 under par. Westwood left his tee shot at the 12th in a downhill lie in the front bunker and failed to get it up-and-down.

Three holes ahead of Westwood, Couple made birdie at the 14th and eagle chip at the 15th to reach eight under par.

For Westwood, the consolation was that he still had the par 5 13th and 15th holes in front of him. After failing to capitalize at the 13th, he birdied the 15th to reach 12 under par and give himself the 54-hole lead.

“There’s a great buzz on the golf course,” Poulter said Friday.

It was still there in full-flight for the third round. The air was thick with anticipation and a promise that under brilliant blue skies and perfect conditions, something special was about to happen at Augusta National.

It sure did.

The early starters gave a sneak preview of what would come next. Defending champion Angel Cabrera made an eagle at the 13th and a birdie at the 15th, both par 5 holes on the second nine, to shoot 69, his best round by four shots. Heath Slocum made five birdies on the first nine to go out in 31. Jerry Kelly shot 32 on the second nine for 67 to reach three under par.

The leaders knew there were plenty of birdies available and took advantage.

Westwood birdied the first hole to take the lead alone at 9- under par. Mickelson reached 8-under par for a share of the lead with birdies at the second and third holes. Westwood reached 10- under par for the second time in the Tournament -- he was in double-figures under par before a double bogey at the 14th Friday -- with a rare birdie deuce at the fourth.

Woods made an early move with birdies at the first and third hole, both from long range. But he gave one back at the fourth, just as Mickelson gave back a stroke with a bogey at the par 3 sixth.

Woods slipped farther back with a bogey at the 10th, which dropped him to 5-under par and, at that point, seven shots behind Westwood’s lead.

“Westwood is playing great, Phil did what he had to do and Tiger,” Couples said.

Couples, too.

In other words, it’s all hands on deck for Sunday’s finale.

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