Finishing with a hat-trick of birdies gave Sean O’Hair a six-under 66 and a one-shot lead over Phil Mickelson going into the final round of the Players Championship on Saturday.
The centerpiece of his birdie-birdie-birdie end was his tee shot on the infamous island green 17th hole, which he thought was heading into the water. It worked out better than he could have imagined.
”After that hole, I felt like puking,” O’Hair said.
Mickelson narrowly escaped trouble down the back nine. His tee shot on the par-five 16th rattled through the trees on the right until it popped out in the first cut of rough, and he carved an approach from about 235 yards to 20 feet for a two-putt birdie. His final tee shot was high and hugging the lake down the left side, but settled in the fairway. He stuck his approach two feet away for birdie and a 69.
O’Hair was at 9-under 207 and will be paired with Mickelson in the final group.
But this is hardly a two-man show at the TPC Sawgrass.
Peter Lonard made a double eagle on the par-5 second — the second albatross this week — and played bogey-free the rest of his round until getting stuck behind a tree and dropping a shot on the last hole for a 68. He was at seven-under 209 along with Jeff Quinney, who shot a tournament-best 64 in the morning to put his name atop the leaderboard.
Jose Coceres was among five players who had at least a share of the lead, but that changed when his eight-iron hopped over the island green and he took double bogey.
”I just let the pressure of 17 get to me, and I just hit it too hard,” Coceres said after his 68.
One guy who took himself out of the tournament was Tiger Woods, who failed to break par for the fifth straight round at the Players. He shot 73 and walked off the course without speaking to reporters. – Sapa-AP