By Leonard Shapiro
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 11, 2008

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."

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."