Manuel Tagle

Kenny Perry tees off on the ninth hole during the third round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., Saturday, April 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

AUGUSTA, Ga — Kenny Perry weathered the situation. Angel Cabrera embraced it. Chad Campbell wrestled with it.

Perry and Cabrera share the lead at 11 under par — two better than Campbell — heading into today’s final round at Augusta National Golf Club. Now the Masters begins in earnest.

“For me, I don’t want to look. I don’t want to look there because I just don’t want to go there,” Perry said about what it would mean to win the green jacket. “I’ve got to stay in the moment. I’ve got to stay ready.”

Perry and Cabrera have never played in the final group in the final round of a major before today, although Cabrera won the 2007 U.S. Open.

“I’m lucky enough to be in a very good position,” he said through an interpreter. “I haven’t been in this position before, so I’ll try to make the most of it.”

Perry made the most of a comfortable third-round pairing with Campbell, his friend and former Ryder Cup teammate.

“Kenny, like I said, we are good friends,” Campbell said. “You know, I’d like to win, but if I don’t win, I’d love to see him win.”

Perry and Campbell started the third round sharing the lead. The final pairing Saturday had the look of a midweek twosome of friends. It had the feel of the opening round at Milwaukee or Hartford or any other of the week-in, week-out PGA Tour stops.

But this is the Masters and the enormous stakes generate a swelling pressure that affected almost everyone Saturday.

Perry grinded through his first real miscues of the tournament to stay out front. A balky putter caused him to drop shots at Nos. 11 and 12. He got to 12 under after a birdie on the 10th before the missteps at 11 and 12, followed by a birdie at the par-5 13th.

Campbell was not as fortunate. He hit a 6-iron into the back bunker at No. 16 that led to a double-bogey 5, and another bogey at the finishing hole left the man who had at least a share of the lead after the first two rounds two back.

“I felt sorry for him on 16 when he hit in that back-right bunker,” Perry said, “because I knew was not going to have any fun on that hole.”

Four-time Masters champ Tiger Woods did not have a lot of fun Saturday, either. Starting with a double-bogey 6 on the first hole, Woods drudged his way to a third-round 70 that included a 6-footer for par on the finishing hole that left him at 4 under, seven shots back of the top two.

“I fought to get back today,” said Woods, who has won 14 major championships but none after trailing after 54 holes. “I’m pretty proud of the fact I got myself back in the tournament. It depends on what the leaders do, whether I’ve got a chance or not tomorrow.”

Woods, who will be paired with Phil Mickelson today, has several players to clear if he’s going to get to the top of the leaderboard.

The final twosome have been among the leaders all week. So have Jim Furyk, who is fourth at 8 under after a 68 Saturday, and Steve Stricker, who matched Furyk’s third-round 68 and is four off the lead at 7 under.

“I’m close enough if I play a good round I can put some stress on the leaders and have a good chance to win,” Furyk said.

That’s the key — managing the Sunday stress of the Masters. The first three days may have been about position, but today figures to be about poise just as much as precision.

“(The majors) are all big tournaments,” said Cabrera, who fashioned his third consecutive round in the 60s with Saturday’s 69. “What is most difficult, it’s the third round in a major. It’s very important to have the experience. ... it’s very big on this course.”