Johnson not giving up Masters crown without fight

AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) - Zach Johnson signaled he is not about to let his U.S. Masters title go without a fight, carding a third round four-under 68 on Saturday to stay on the fringe of contention.

A four-over 76 on Friday had left Johnson 10 off the pace but the resilient American hit back by firing the joint best round of the day to trim the deficit to nine shots to put him in a tie for seventh.

Johnson's hopes of overhauling South Africa Trevor Immelman, who leads at 11-under 205, are slim but the Masters champion believes his effort on Saturday left him with a chance.

"I thought if I could post a good number, you never know where it would take me," Johnson told reporters. "You never know what this course will bring.

"Right now it's not playing extremely difficult, the fairways are holding, but yet still getting a little release.

"The greens are soft. So there's probably going to be some really good numbers up I think this afternoon."

Johnson took full advantage of benign early conditions to help record his best round of the week with four birdies on the front nine, including back-to-back birdies at two and three.

Despite being the champion, Johnson said he would enter Sunday's final round facing no pressure.

"I'm going to have to post a really good number," said Johnson. "There's no question about that.

"You know, I made somewhat of a move today, but that's all it was.

"The pressure is off. It should always be off because I'm not supposed to win, anyway.

"It's kind of just a nice round, go out there and you know, work on some things and get it back to somewhat in contention or move up the board a little bit.

"I came in here -- I didn't want to defend. I wanted to win.

"I know that kind of sounds strange, but that was my approach. I prepared to win; not to defend."

(Editing by Greg Stutchbury)