Oosthuizen leads as Mickelson falters

There was magic and madness at The Masters at Augusta on Sunday - the former from South African Louis Oosthuizen and the latter from Phil Mickelson.

Oosthuizen produced the first albatross two at the long second in the history of the tournament, sinking his 253-yard four-iron to a roar that raised the roof, and with nine holes to play the 2010 Open champion was two in front at nine under.

Three-time champion Mickelson, though, gave himself a mountain to climb by taking six at the short fourth - his second triple bogey of the week.

Nobody has ever won a green jacket with one triple bogey on his card, but the left-hander still had a chance to do it with two.

He had crashed from one behind to four back, however, after hitting the grandstand on the left with his tee shot and rebounding into the undergrowth. Rejecting the idea of going back to the tee, he then had two right-handed hacks and then found a bunker.

Getting up and down from there at least limited the damage to three dropped shots, and by the turn Mickelson had picked one back up to sit six under.

Peter Hanson displayed the nerves of finding himself in contention for a major for the first time by bogeying the first and third. He missed the opening green and almost sent his chip into the bunker on the other side, then at the third drove into sand and failed to find the green.

Ireland's Padraig Harrington and England's Ian Poulter were still battling to reel in Oosthuizen. Both reached the turn in five under while Lee Westwood was one further back.

Poulter completed an outward 33 with a curling 30-foot putt for his third birdie, but while Harrington picked up shots on the second and sixth he also missed from nine feet at the third, six feet on the fifth and only three feet at the seventh, then bogeyed the ninth.

As for pre-tournament favourites Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, they finished together down on five over and were not even in the top 40.