PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL. — Chris Kirk kept his cool during a rocky patch Saturday and made three consecutive birdies for a 4-under-par 68 that gave him a one-shot lead after at The Players Championship going into the final round that is very much up for grabs.
That much was clear over the final hour on a TPC Sawgrass course that gave as much as it took.
Kirk went from out of the top 10 to a share of the lead in three holes. He had the lead to himself when Kevin Na three-putted for double bogey on the 18th hole.
What made Saturday so unpredictable was neither the Stadium Course nor the variety of shots, rather a leaderboard crammed with so many players that it was hard to keep track who was coming and who was going.
Ben Martin fell out of the lead with a bogey on the 18th for a 68, leaving him one shot behind at 207 along with Kevin Kisner (67) and Bill Haas (68). Justin Thomas was tied for the lead, but that was before the leaders teed off. The 22-year-old rookie set a Stadium Course record with 10 birdies in his round of 65 and was two behind, along with Sergio Garcia (67), Scott Brown (69), David Heard (70), Jerry Kelly (72) and Na, who had to settle for a 72.
At the end of the day, 24 players were separated by four shots. That included Rory McIlroy, the world’s No. 1 player, who had a 70 to stay in the mix.
“It seems like half the tour has a chance to win this thing,” McIlroy said.
Tiger Woods was part of the other half. He made the wrong kind of history by making two double bogeys on par 5s for the first time in his career, leading to a 75 that matched his worst score at the TPC Sawgrass. Woods was 13 shots behind and chose not to share his thoughts on the day.
Woods was part of an all-star cast at the bottom of the leaderboard. The last 10 players have combined for 153 wins on the PGA Tour and 27 majors. The top 10 going into Sunday have combined for 23 tour wins and no majors.
Coetzee holds slim lead•BEL OMBRE, mauritius — George Coetzee holed out from the fairway for an eagle on the way to a 6-under 65 and a one-shot lead over Thomas Aiken (68—203) and Thorbjorn Olesen (70) after the third round of the Mauritius Open.
