PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – J.B. Holmes and Kyle Stanley both shot in the 60s in their first two rounds. Neither did on Saturday, but they did enough to share the lead after three rounds of the Players Championship.
Holmes shot an adventuresome 2-under par 70 to match Stanley, the second round co-leader at -9. Stanley played even par on Saturday. He will begin his quest for his second PGA Tour victory in the last group with Holmes on Sunday.
Holmes, who has won seven times on tour and last year finished in the top five in both the Masters and the Open Championship, has only one top 10 finish to his name this year. That was two weeks ago at the Zurich Classic. He played out of trouble most of the day, scrambling from the rough, the pine straw and, in some case, from the trees.
"I grew up in the woods playing golf, so I learned how to hit fairways when I got on tour," Holmes said. "Today was just a throw back to how I played junior golf. So obviously it's a lot less stressful in the fairway, but it was tough out there today with the wind and everything and getting in the fairway. And I was able to, when I did miss it, I missed it spots where I could get around the green and have a chance to get up-and-down."
Stanley's only win on tour came in 2012 when he won in Tuscon, which would make a win at The Players a life-changing victory. So far, he has handled the pressure and the course well. He has also bounced back from adversity on the course this week, including Saturday.
"Yeah, I thought I handled it pretty well after the poor start. 2-over through 4, just had to remind myself to stay pretty patient," Stanley said. "I thought it played really difficult on the front nine with as windy as it was. But the birdie on 8 kind of the settled me down a little bit and then just tried to keep things pretty simple after that, back to my game plan of fairways and greens."
Pat Perez went out early and shot 6-under par 66, matching the best round of the tournament. Two players, former champion Sergio Garcia, and Emiliano Grillo shot 5-under 67.
"I just like the golf course. I've told you guys many, many times it's one of my most favorite golf courses we play all year, and for some reason I can see what I want to do," Garcia said. "Obviously there's a couple tee shots here and there that are a little bit uncomfortable, but I see what I want to do and I can see most of my reads quite well and I just feel comfortable on it. So it usually helps to play better."
As the leaders made the turn, the wind that was blowing must stronger earlier in the day, lessened, offering an opportunity for some of those at the top of the leader board to make a push.
LEADER BOARD: See the scores
Si Woo Kim's 68 helped the South Korean get to -7. When he finished his round, he was the leader in the clubhouse.
Adam Scott, who won The Players in 2004, shot 71 and sits at 3-under par heading to the final round.
"Yeah, I was close today to getting myself right in it. It would be great to finish 5-under. I think I would be right there for tomorrow," Scott said. "But you can get it going around here in a little better conditions than this. But it's tough out there right now. If I can play well tomorrow, get a few putts to roll in, and be right up there."
With more than 78 players (82 at 2-over 144) making the 36-hole cut on Friday, a 54-hole cut to the low 70 and ties was made with 71 players at 5-over or better advancing to Sunday’s final round.
It marks the third time in the last 10 editions of THE PLAYERS where a 54-hole cut was required. In 2014, 82 players made the 36-hole cut before the field was reduced to 71 players after Saturday. In 2009, the field of 83 was reduced to 71 following the 54-hole cut.
Friday’s 36-hole cut of 2-over 146 was the highest at THE PLAYERS since 2008 when the cut came at 4-over 148.
Holmes and Stanley will be the final pairing to begin, at 2:30 p.m.