The Old Hands Hang On At Players Championship

A year ago, Phil Mickelson felt the same way on Saturday. He made his move toward the top of the leader board on the back nine that day and pulled away for a two-shot victory over García on Sunday. A dozen months later, he was heading in the same positively proper direction through his first 13 holes, pushing to 4 under for the tournament and within two shots of the lead. But a dreadful, pushed tee shot found water down the left side of the 14th, the toughest hole on the course all week.

Mickelson moved up on the tee box and dropped a ball for his third shot 3-wood that left him 140 yards from the flag. From there, an off-target approach on his fourth left Mickelson in deep rough right of the flag, and his chip from 35 feet stopped a foot from the cup for a deflating double bogey.

Mickelson got one of those shots back at the 523-yard 16th with a second shot that left him with a 50-foot eagle putt. He lagged it down to two feet for a birdie, parred 17 and gave another shot back with a pulled tee shot into deep rough at 18 that left him no choice but to chip out into the fairway. He failed to get up and down from 120 yards and made bogey for a round of 71 and 2-under 214 for the week. He trails by five going into the final round.

"I don't feel that I'm that far off," said Mickelson, who said he has been taking antibiotics for a bad sore throat that started Friday afternoon. "Today could very easily have been 67 or 68 and I let it slide to 71. Tomorrow I'll need to score mid-to-high 60s, but at least I'm in striking distance. I'm playing well. The opportunity is there."

It also was there for a while Saturday for Anthony Kim, the 22-year-old rising star who won a week ago at the Wachovia Championship for his first career PGA Tour victory. Kim made a move with three birdies in a five-hole stretch in the middle of his third round, and his 30-foot birdie putt at the 424-yard No. 10 got him to 5 under and within a shot of the lead. But bogeys at his next four holes, including a long-iron tee shot gashed into a bush at the 368-yard 12th hole that left him with an unplayable lie, sent him flailing down the stretch.

It got even worse on his last two holes. Kim's tee shot at the 17th cleared the bulkhead in front of the green but bounced back into the water, leading to a triple bogey when he three-putted from 25 feet. He followed that with a double bogey at the 18th for a 7-over 43 on the back side on the way to 79 and 3-over 219.

"It was very disappointing," Kim said, "but at least I can go to sleep tonight and say I didn't give up on one shot. I tried my hardest on every shot, and that's more than I can say for last year's rounds. I don't know if I would have been able to eat dinner last year. I feel fine. It's not the end of the world."