Remember Me? I'm Ricky Barnes -- And I'm Back With a Vengeance

DUBLIN, Ohio -- Ricky Barnes has been paired with and outplayed Tiger Woods before.

Seven years ago, invited to Augusta National for the Masters as reigning U.S. Amateur champion from the University of Arizona, Barnes was grouped with Woods to begin play and starting with a first-day 69, routinely crunched drives past his celebrated partner on the way to beating him by seven strokes.

The newcomer was strength and swagger, a two-time college All-American, and went on to finish as low amateur at Augusta that year. It made Barnes easy to identify as a future pro star.

Except it took the Northern California native six more years just to reach the PGA Tour, and after finally climbing off the developmental circuits, he struggled as a rookie in 2009.

Maybe that explains Barnes' efforts during Saturday's third round of the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village.

Do you remember me now?

Again paired with the world's top-ranked player on Saturday, Barnes shot a 10-under-par 62 -- bettering his PGA Tour career low by two shots -- to zoom from far behind after 36 holes into contention, three shots back of third-round leader Rickie Fowler, who shot 69 to head into the final round at 16 under.

After a round of eight birdies, one eagle and no bogeys, Barnes is 13-under-par and tied for second with Tim Petrovic who shot 66.

"[It was a] good ball striking round," Barnes said. "Obviously, irons were probably the main key to the round. Got off to a good start. Got away with a few bad drives. Had them on the right holes.

"Other than that, I hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of greens, and took advantage of my good looks -- not those good looks. My good putting."

Woods, meanwhile, shot 69 while watching Barnes light up the course, and is 6 under, 10 behind the leader.

Before Barnes joined the club, 62s by Jim Furyk's at Doral in 1998 and Paul Goydos at the 1999 Byron Nelson were the lowest rounds carded while Woods had to watch. (Of course, Woods was shooting 61 while playing with Goydos.)

When the latest one was complete, Woods -- at least, according to Barnes -- congratulated his playing partner with "hell of a round" and "keep it going."

But after signing his scorecard, Woods walked away with "I'm done" as his only comment to everyone else.

That's OK. The day belonged to Barnes. And all of a sudden the year is shaping up nicely, too -- a drastic upswing from the past.

In his 2009 rookie season Barnes managed only one top-25 finish. Fortunately for him, it came in the U.S. Open where he finished second.

"Made 90-some percent of my money to get my card," he said. "So I was pretty pissed off actually. I was really disappointed in myself. I knew I was better than that. And it didn't help we were going to change grooves."

His frustrations put him to work. He started to adjust to the USGA new regulations on grooves, Barnes said he just kept grinding through the whole off-season.

The results, so far, are four top 10s, including a tie for 10th at the Masters and a T7 last week in the Colonial.

"Hard work," he said. "I had doubts. I think everybody gets humbled by this game. I was humbled pretty early in the transition period, not being able to get my card. But you know, I stayed patient, adjusting my attitude and hard work."

Barnes got his stellar round off to a fast start by holing a 35-foot putt for birdie on the first hole en route to a front-side 32. He then came home in 30, powered by an eagle on the par-5 11th, when he holed a wedge shot from 108 yards.

"It's one of the best things about my game," Barnes said. "I hit a 9-iron. Wind was picking up coming into our face. It landed short of the pin. Just happened, one hop, stop and then trickled in."

Now Barnes is positioned for a career breakthrough come Sunday. Or Monday.

No question, the Memorial Tournament is a biggie on the PGA Tour. Start with its host, with the most major championships in golf history, Jack Nicklaus, who studies every detail like it was a downhill four-foot putt with a nasty break.

Next, Muirfield Village is among the world's top-ranked courses, explaining why the list of past champions reads like a hall of fame ballot

But when it comes to weather, the Memorial is the golf tournament with "kick me" sign stuck on its back. Year after year, no matter the dates, rain and lightning seem to track the event.

Saturday's play suffered a pair of weather delays, a morning and an afternoon stoppage, that combined for five hours and 59 minutes of waiting. There were also weather delays on Thursday and Friday.

And more thunderstorms are predicted for Sunday, causing tournament officials to, just in case, already begin planning for a Monday finish.

"It has made for a long week," Fowler said of the delays. "But my game feels good. I don't think the stops and starts have hurt it."