Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. – For a tournament that professes to have the best, deepest field in golf, The Players Championship doesn’t bow down to its celebrated competitors.
There are winds that blow and swirl, ducking in and out of trees and hardening already rock-hard greens. Add that to seemingly benign holes, like the 123-yard par-3 17th, and the end result is far more likely to be a strutting PGA Tour pro being brought to his knees, rather than vice versa.
“This course was built here for conditions like this, but the only problem is now they’ve got 6- or 8-inch rough,” Tiger Woods said of the TPC Sawgrass course. “That’s a little different than how the golf course is meant to be played.”
“It’s not only hard to get it close, it’s hard to make the putts,” added defending champion Fred Funk.
But the ever-changing conditions and the collective uncertainty they foster only serve to somehow make the tournament an infinitely democratic test, rarely found in this day of long hitters who bomb away without worrying about the consequences.
So it was during Saturday’s third round.
At one point in the early afternoon, the leaderboard was filled with major champions. Later, the first four slots were occupied by Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson, Stephen Ames and Arron Oberholser, players who had not only failed to win a major but had combined for just eight tour wins.
At the end of a day that saw the 74-player field average a staggering 2 1/2 strokes over par, one that saw eight players get at least a share of the lead in a four-hour span, the last man standing, as it were, was Ames.
Four years ago here, Ames, a Canadian, fell victim to a miracle, eagle-birdie-chip-in-for-par finish by Craig Perks. Today, he’s hoping for a little better luck.
“I don’t know if I was snake-bitten or not. Craig obviously played some fantastic golf coming in,” Ames said.
To win, Ames will not only have to overcome the elements but a formidable group of contenders. At 9-under-par 207, he carries a one-shot lead over Vijay Singh and Garcia. There are eight others within four shots, a group that includes former Masters winner Mike Weir and U.S. Open champs Retief Goosen and Jim Furyk.
Despite being winless in his past 15 PGA Tour starts, Singh said: “I like my position right now. I’m not playing extremely well. I’m not playing badly, either. I’m managing my game very well.”
That was something not many players could boast Saturday. As now-departed first-round co-leader Davis Love III (65-83-missed cut) would attest, there’s a big difference between being on the leaderboard and being in command at a course that seems to relish its capriciousness.
On Saturday, there were 10 eagles, an apparent invitation to score low. However, try telling that to Woody Austin, who ended his third round with four bogeys and a pair of double-bogeys to finish at 83. Eight players shot 80 or worse.
In addition, Thomas Bjorn had 10 holes of bogey or worse, one more than Rocco Mediate. Fred Couples, the 1996 champion, had five of his seven bogeys on the back nine.
Then there was Adam Scott. When play began Saturday, the 2004 champion was just one shot off the lead. After parring the opening hole, the Australian suffered a stretch of six straight bogeys and eventually ended his day with an 82.
Despite a 3-over 75 that included a pair of double bogeys, Furyk, Ames’ playing partner and the leader after the opening two rounds, is still in position to gain the victory.
“A lot of times you’re four shots back but there’s 16, 17 guys in front of you,” he said. “Obviously there are some good players (in front of me) and I expect them to play well, but it’s nice to be within earshot.”
As this tournament showed Saturday, the biggest factor might not be the men swinging the clubs, but the elements they’re swinging them in.
Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-820-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
