The Daily Wrap-up, Round 3: PLAYERS Championship

May. 8, 2010
By Staff and Wire Reports

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- One round away from one of the biggest wins of his career, Lee Westwood of England knows what to expect on the final day of THE PLAYERS Championship.

Leaderboard: Round 3

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Third-round coverage

CAN WESTWOOD DO IT?: We've heard it before. Lee Westwood is on the verge of a breakthrough victory. Will it happen this time? Column

PHIL'S FOCUS: Phil Mickelson heads into the final round thinking about winning rather than the spoils that come with it. Column

MOTHER'S DAY MOTIVATION: Heath Slocum's wife won't be in Ponte Vedra Beach to see the final round, but she'll be on his mind. Story

FIRST-TIMER: An unheralded first-time PLAYERS participant is lighting up the Stadium Course. Story

NO. 17 ... EASY?: A surprising stat reveals that the 17th hole isn't as daunting as in years' past. Story

DON'T COUNT 'EM OUT: If TPC Sawgrass or history has a say, plenty of players still have a shot at the title. Story

CONTENDERS CHART: We break down every player within earshot of the lead going into the deciding day. Chart

Not only because of his 16 years and his 30 victories worldwide, or his 54-hole lead last month at the Masters.

Saturday on the TPC Sawgrass was enough of a reminder.

Westwood watched a two-shot lead turn into a two-shot deficit. Over the final hour, Robert Allenby picked up three shots on the last three holes, while Heath Slocum dropped four shots on the last six holes.

The day ended with Westwood hitting a daring shot with a 6-iron through a gap in the trees for a par on the 18th hole for a 2-under 70 to finish the third round with a one-shot lead, same as he started. He has more company now -- Masters champion Phil Mickelson included -- but the course is as significant as the names behind him on the leaderboard.

"There was no real scope for thinking about anything else other than what I was doing," Westwood said. "It's that kind of golf course. If you play well, birdies are available. If you don't hit good shots, they penalize you. That's what good golf courses do to you."

This day, there was a little of both.

Mickelson suddenly was back in the picture, along with that No. 1 ranking, because of his 66 that put him five shots behind.

Tiger Woods was not, courtesy of a bogey-bogey finish for a 71 that put him 10 shots behind.

Allenby was five shots behind when he walked off the 13th tee. He made up ground quickly with a 6-iron to about 12 feet on the par-5 16th for eagle, then a 12-foot birdie on the island-green 17th that curled into the side of the cup. He shot a 67 to get in the final group.

"That's the thing," Allenby said. "You don't know what's going to happen out there. All you can do is just play your own golf. But I knew I had to push it a little bit just to try to get within reach. Obviously, the leaderboard changed a couple of times through the back nine. Luckily for me, I did well on the finishing holes."

Westwood was at 14-under 202.

"The golf course changed a lot. It got really firm this afternoon," Westwood said. "I thought I played well -- gave myself a lot of chances, missed a couple, but all in all, I was pleased with the way I played. I didn't make too many poor shots out there."

He certainly didn't on the 18th after his drive landed in a drain grate. He took a free drop, saw a gap in the trees and hit a 6-iron onto the green to give himself another shot at winning.

"Had to go under one limb and then over the next lot of trees," Westwood said. "It just looked perfect for the trajectory."

Mickelson began the day nine shots out of the lead, same as Woods.

They went opposite directions, however. Mickelson didn't make a bogey until the final hole for a 66 to put himself back into the picture, just five shots behind Westwood. The 10 players ahead of him have a combined 14 victories on the PGA TOUR.

"I feel like things started to click a little bit today, and I think I've got one more low round in me," Mickelson said. "I just hope that it will be enough, that I'll be within striking distance."

To reach No. 1 for the first time in his career, Mickelson has to win and have Woods finish out of the top five. Woods did hit part with a bogey-bogey finish for a 71 that put him 10 shots behind in a tie for 45th. Woods final bogey came after he popped up another 3-wood and had to hit fairway metal to the green.

It was the second time this week he hit a fairway metal for his second shot to a par 4.

"I had it going for a little bit," Woods said. "I thought if I could have birdied 16 and 17, I'd have been right back in the tournament."

Even for the 14 players separated by five shots, so much depends on Westwood and Allenby.

U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover, the only player in the top 10 with a major, didn't make a birdie until the ninth hole in his round of 69. He was at 12-under 204, along with Torrey Pines winner Ben Crane (68) and Francesco Molinari of Italy, who had a 71.

Slocum, who won the opening playoff event last year against a cast of stars, ran off three birdies in four holes around the turn to reach 15 under until a three-putt from the fringe below a steep ridge on the 13th changed everything. Slocum also bogeyed the 15th, then dumped his tee shot into the water on the par-3 17th for a double bogey. After all that work, he shot 72.

"What I'm going to have to do tomorrow is play perfect and finish strong," Slocum said.

His poor finish put him at 11-under 205, three shots behind and tied with Tim Clark (66), Charley Hoffman (69) and Chris Stroud (66), a newcomer to this stage.

Westwood closed out both of his nines well. He hit a towering 5-wood over the trees on the par-5 ninth for a simple up-and-down for birdie, then the 6-iron on the 18th through the trees. His lone birdie on the back required a small break when his tee shot went through some pines and left him only an 8-iron to the green at the par-5 16th.

FACTS AND STATS: More on Westwood, moving day and more
Compiled by Elias Sports Bureau, Inc.

• Lee Westwood, who led the 2010 Masters Tournament at the end of the third round (before finishing in second place) now leads THE PLAYERS Championship heading into play on Sunday. He's the first individual in 33 years to lead each of those tournaments at the end of Round 3 in the same year. Tom Watson did that in 1977, and he ended up winning the Masters Tournament and finishing tied for fifth at THE PLAYERS Championship.

• Phil Mickelson, Tim Clark, Fred Funk and Chris Stroud took the term "moving day" to heart on Saturday at THE PLAYERS Championship. All four of them shot a third-round 66. In the history of this tournament there has been only one year in which more than four players shot a 66 or lower in the third round. In 1996, seven individuals did that: Michael Bradley, Jim Carter, Ernie Els, Blaine McCallister, Rocco Mediate, Phil Mickelson and Colin Montgomerie.

• Heath Slocum and Troy Matteson have both birdied 10 of the 12 par-5s on the course through three rounds at THE PLAYERS Championship. Since 1983, only one other player was under par on 10 of the 12 par-5s through three rounds at TPC Sawgrass: Geoff Ogilvy in 2004.

• Lucas Glover leads the field in bogey avoidance at THE PLAYERS Championship; he has only two bogeys through three rounds. This ties the fewest bogeys that Glover has ever had through three rounds at any tournament on the PGA TOUR. At the 2005 FUNAI Classic (which he won) and the 2006 Buick Open (where he tied for 15th) he also made only two bogeys through three rounds.

Notables at THE PLAYERS Championship

Name	Score	Position	Comment	Saturday tee time (ET)
Fred Funk	8 under	T15	The 53-year-old found the fountain of youth with a 66, his best round on the PGA TOUR since 2008.	1:23 p.m.
Ryuji Imada	7 under	T24	Fell 22 spots with a 76 while playing in the final group with Lee Westwood.	11:40 a.m.
Sergio Garcia	6 under	T36	Had a roller-coaster day with five birdies and four bogeys but is primed for his best stroke-play finish of 2010.	11:20 a.m.
Jerry Kelly	4 under	T45	May have angered TPC Sawgrass with his critical course comments after a Friday 66. He was seven shots worse Saturday.	10:20 a.m.
Jim Furyk	1 under	60	Will leave his home event empty-handed for the 15th time after a second straight 73.	9:40 a.m.

Saturday's best

EASIEST HOLE	TOUGHEST HOLE
The par-5 16th hole was the easiest with a Saturday scoring average of 4.257. EAGLES: 5 BIRDIES: 43 PARS: 21 BOGEYS: 1 OTHERS: 0	The par-4 18th hole was the toughest with a Saturday scoring average of 4.343. EAGLES: 0 BIRDIES: 5 PARS: 43 BOGEYS: 18 OTHERS: 4