The Old Hands Hang On At Players Championship

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla., May 10 -- Self-deprecating Paul Goydos described himself earlier this week as a "journeyman grinder," but he and fellow golfing geezer Kenny Perry continued to buck the trend of the PGA Tour's recent youth movement in the breezy and often brutal third round of the 35th Players Championship on Saturday at the TPC at Sawgrass.

With a 10-foot birdie putt at the signature 123-yard island green 17th hole and a magnificent second-shot approach he never saw at the 18th hole until it rolled past the flagstick and stopped 15 feet from the cup, Goydos, 43, opened a one-shot lead over Perry, 47, and a three-shot advantage over his 28-year-old playing partner, Sergio García.

One of the shortest hitters in the game with only two career victories since he joined the tour in 1993, Goydos posted a round of 2-under 70 that was an inch from being a shot better. That 15-footer for birdie at the 462-yard finishing hole lipped around the cup and out, but the still-breathtaking par left him at 7-under-par 209, forged mainly by superior putting that so far has included 31 one-putt greens in 54 holes.

"It's just been one of those weeks," Goydos said after his round. "I've made my share of 10- and 15-footers. I like putting Bermuda [grass] greens. And these greens are perfect."

And how will he react playing Sunday in the final group with Perry, a nine-time winner on the tour?

"I actually think I'm a very nervous person," Goydos said. "I don't shake outside very much, but inside, yeah. I think that's good. What's going to be bothersome is if I step up on the first tee tomorrow not nervous. Then I've got something to worry about. It's a positive because that means you're into it and you're in good shape and you're sleeping in and all that stuff."

Perry, playing in the last group Saturday with fading 50-year-old Bernhard Langer (75 -- 214), made a 10-foot putt for a scrambling par out of the right rough at the 18th to stay within a shot of the lead. He came in at 72 -- 210, with two birdies and two bogeys, including an eight-foot putt for the only birdie of the day at the 481-yard 14th.

"A lot of survival out there, a lot of difficult holes, a lot of tough situations you find yourself in," Perry said. "All in all, I was ecstatic with my score. I struggled, played smart. You just don't know what to expect out there. There's no other game plan -- survival. That's all it is."

García will be trying to continue the trend of five winners in their 20s in the last six PGA Tour events. Still, the Spaniard did little to help that cause with bogeys on four of his last six holes, including the diabolical 17th, where he three-putted from 10 feet. He added one final bogey after a drive in the right rough at 18.

"The first one [at 17], I didn't want to hit a soft putt, and I killed it," Garcia said. "The second one didn't feel like a bad putt. It was hitting the right edge and kind of snapped a little bit. Instead of lipping in, it kind of just caught the edge and missed. What can you do? Just a bit of an unfortunate finish, but with everything that happened, I'm still there. I still have a good chance."

Goydos gave himself a grand chance with that second shot at the 18th, when he got a little lucky with a 3-wood drive that landed in the right rough and came to rest on trampled grass 205 yards from the flag. He pulled out a 3-iron rescue club and initially couldn't see his perfectly struck shot because a tree was in his line of sight.

"I couldn't have hit a better shot," he said. "I peeked around the tree and I saw this ball dribbling by the flag. . . . This is my 16th year and my first shot at having the Saturday lead. There you go. I guess I'm due."