Golf

Bogeys, not birdies, rule TPC course

Stephen Ames leads Vijay Singh and Sergio Garcia going into final day.

By BOB HARIG
Published March 26, 2006

PONTE VEDRA BEACH - The Players Championship may never be considered a major championship, but there is no debate about the TPC-Sawgrass Stadium course. It can be a major pain.

Saturday offered numerous examples of agony and anguish for the top players in the world, but perhaps the best was offered up by the infamous par-3 17th island green hole.

It wasn't until the 65th golfer in the field played the 123-yard hole that a birdie was recorded. The average of 3.541 strokes made it the second-most difficult hole during the third round of the $8-million tournament.

And it was the shortest.

Stephen Ames managed par 3 at 17 and got through the treacherous 18th with par to take a one-shot lead into the final round over Vijay Singh and Sergio Garcia.

But the story of the cool, windy day was suffering.

Such as the 82 by Adam Scott, including 45 on the front nine.

Or the 75 by second-round leader Jim Furyk, who managed just five pars.

And then there was Arron Oberholser, who walked to the 17th tee leading the tournament and walked off the 18th green in a tie for 17th. He hit a ball in the water at each hole, made triple bogey and double bogey and fell six back.

"It's a tough test," said defending champion Fred Funk, who shot 74. "It's a golf course you know if you hit one astray that you're going to be struggling to make par, and you've got to be careful not to make doubles and triples. One bad shot at the wrong time. ... It just so easily can happen."

Even Ames could not avoid the pitfalls, making double bogey at the fifth hole. But he made just one bogey the rest of the day, shot 2-under-par 70, and completed 54 holes at 207, 9 under par.

Singh, 43, and Garcia, 26, also shot 70, and they were among the steadiest on the leaderboard. Singh, ranked second in the world, had eight pars and a birdie on the back nine, where the conditions were the most severe. And Garcia, ranked sixth, made just two bogeys all day.

"It was playing dangerous," said Garcia, whose best finish here was a tie for fourth in 2002. "I could still feel it, even though I was playing really well and I really wasn't in much trouble all day long. But you could see that a bad shot at the wrong time, it could cost a lot."

Canada's Mike Weir tied for the lowest round of the day with 68 and was three shots back of Ames at 210, tied with Sweden's Henrik Stenson (70), who had a hole-in-one at the par-3 13th. Retief Goosen was in a six-way tie for sixth at 211 along with Furyk, who had two double bogeys, five bogeys, six birdies and five pars.

The day saw 19 lead changes involving Ames, Garcia, Singh, Oberholser, Stenson, Weir, Goosen and Furyk.

Scott, who won the Players in 2004, was tied for second before playing 10 holes in 10-over par. Brad Faxon started the day tied for seventh, shot 42 on the front and made the turn in 40th. Woody Austin played his last six holes in 8-over par to shoot 44.

"It's the kind of course you have to respect, and you're happy to make pars," said Tom Lehman, who played several hours before the leaders and shot 70 to tie for 12th. "Then when you get the ball in position and you have a crack at birdie, you need to go for it. Back nine was just trying to survive, trying to hit the ball in the right spots and make pars."

Ames, 41, has one PGA Tour victory, the 2004 Western Open. He is from Trindad & Tobago but makes his home in Calgary. He finished second to Craig Perks at the Players Championship four years ago, but has picked up an unflattering nickname - "9 and 8" - after he made a flip remark about Tiger Woods' poor driving before the Match Play Championship last month.

Woods went out and drilled Ames 9 and 8, winning nine of the 10 holes they played.

"I dealt with it," Ames said. "I left it at that. I got ... pummeled. I lost."

Ames was among the few not mumbling such words Saturday.

[Last modified March 26, 2006, 00:26:15]