The question to Bernhard Langer was kind of odd, given that he has won the Masters Tournament two times.

The question: Are you getting to know this course?

His answer was as steady as the 3-under par he shot Saturday to put him in contention for another win here.

"I should after the many times that I've played here," Langer said. "I think this is my 22nd Masters, and I've played many practice rounds. I should know my way around. It's just a matter of hitting the ball where I want to hit it and hopefully making some putts."

On Saturday, Langer did hit the ball where he wanted, thanks to a couple of swing changes his coach, Willie Hoffman, suggested.

The changes called for him to turn his right hip a bit more on the backswing, which put less stress on his back and allowed him to slow down his swing.

"He said just to try a couple of things, which I did (Saturday) morning, and I felt the rhythm come back," Langer said. "I had a little bit more time at the top of my swing and hit the ball very solid today. It's one of those things that I can do for the rest of my life."

Langer started the third round at even par and maintained that score through the first eight holes before birdieing the ninth.

He made his big move on the par-5 15th, where he made eagle to get him to 3-under par for the day.

Though the current European Ryder Cup captain acknowledges to being familiar with Augusta National's layout, he, like a number of other players in this year's tournament, has been surprised by some of the pin placements players have had to face.

"It is true, yes," Langer said when asked whether there were a number of new hole locations. "I mean, most of them are in similar places, but they are even tighter, closer to the edge."

Langer is one of only 16 players to win the Masters at least twice, coming out on top in 1985 and 1993.

If he gets to slip on the green jacket for a third time today, he said it still won't be enough to get him to select himself to play at the Ryder Cup on Sept. 17-19 at Oakland Hills Country Club.

"I want to be the captain," Langer said. "I've put a lot of work into the captaincy already. There's a lot of personal touches and a lot of things that had to be decided, and I'm not going to change my mind, no matter how well or how bad I'm playing."

Reach Mike Wynn at 823-3218 or mike.wynn@augustachronicle.com.