Goydos leads the way

American heads into the final round in pole position

Last updated: 11th May 2008

Paul Goydos Players Rnd Three

Goydos: Pacesetter

Leaderboard
-7 P Goydos (US)
-6 K Perry (US)
-4 S Garcia (Spn)

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Paul Goydos leads the way after the third round of the Players Championship after he overtook American compatriot Kenny Perry at the Sawgrass TPC.

Goydos continued his impressive start to the tournament with a round of 70, and his two-shot lead over Perry could have been extended had he sunk his birdie put on the 18th.

Sergio Garcia endured a fantastic start and a frustrating finish to his round as he bogeyed the final two holes to fall three strokes behind Goydos going into the final day.

On a day when fellow European Bernhard Langer fell five strokes behind, Garcia was tied for the lead after a birdie at the par-five 16th, and the Spaniard seemed set to lead the way when he hit a sublime shot to 10 feet at the par-three 17th.

But his first putt trickled four feet beyond the hole and he missed the comeback attempt.

Brain dead

Garcia dropped another shot at the par-four 18th after pushing his drive into the rough and having to lay up with his second shot.

"I'm a little bit disappointed because I feel the last two days I shot pretty much the highest I could," said Garcia.

"I feel like I'm putting well. It's not easy to make a lot of putts, (although) I went a little brain dead with my first putt on 17 and just jammed it by.

"With everything that happened I'm still there with a good chance."

The evergreen Langer, who struggled on the back nine, shot 75 to slip back to two under with Americans Phil Mickelson and Jeff Quinney.

Poulter agony

Sole English hope Ian Poulter was hanging doggedly within striking distance of the lead until he struck major trouble at the final hole.

A triple bogey for Poulter on the 18th has all-but ruled out any distant hopes of challenging for top spot after he pulled his drive into the lake.

"It was a poor tee shot," Poulter said after plummeting seven shots off the pace. "I'm burning right now but what can you do? I'm not going to hang myself because of a bad tee shot on 18."

Meanwhile, Luke Donald, the only British player other than Poulter to make the cut, was cruising along nicely until he made a weak bogey at the par-four 12th.

He promptly dropped three more shots over the difficult closing stretch to shoot a disappointing two-over-par 74.

"It's a shame, because I played quite nicely the first 11 holes," the Englishman said after posting a five-over 221 total.

"I didn't miss a shot the first 11 holes and then I chunked one into the bunker on 12. I also four-putted 15 from the fringe and didn't commit to my shot on 17 and hit it in the water."