On a roller-coaster day that saw some record scoring and some wild swings of fortune among the contenders yesterday, 1994 champion Olazabal posted a relatively steady one-over-par 73 for a seven-under-par 209 total.

Norman overcame a near-disaster at the pesky par-3 12th, where he could not find his tee shot among the rose bushes and azaleas behind the green, by making birdies at the 15th and 18th holes for a 71 that put him alone in second place at 210.

Saturday is known as moving day at the Masters, and moving at the speed of light was Steve Pate. The 37-year-old Pate set a tournament record with seven birdies in a row, starting from the 7th hole, as he shot 65 to catapult from two under par to five-under and a share of third place.

Pate's sizzling stretch erased the masters record of six consecutivebirdies first set by johnny miller in 1975 and later equalled by Mark Calcavecchia and David Toms, last year.

Tied with Pate was Davis Love, who was leading in the round before he took a double-bogey at the par-5 15th, where he put the ball in the water in front of the green despite laying up on the hole. Love shot 70 for his 211.

Four players were tied at four under, three shots off the Pace Ernie Els (69), Lee Janzen (73), Bob Estes (69) and Carlos Franco of Paraguay (68).

One more shot away were Nick Price, Steve Elkington, Colin Montgomerie and Scott McCarron. Tiger Woods, Bernhard Langer, Phil Mickelson and Briton Lee Westwood were another stroke back. ``There's a big group of guys that can win,''said Love. ``One guy is going to shoot a nice low score to win.''