The Players Championship
Sawgrass Stadium Course
Ponte Vedra Beach,
Florida
26th - 29th March 1998

Par 72 Prize Money $4 million

Third Round Report

Third Round Scores
Second Round Report
Second Round Scores
First Round Report
First Round Scores
Norman & Elkington withdraw

Janzen widens lead to three strokes

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, 28th March 1998 - The big names made their run at Lee Janzen today in The Players Championship.

First Nick Faldo. Then Ernie Els. Even John Daly.

Other very intimidating names -- Phil Mickelson, Tom Lehman and Fred Couples -- crept up the leaderboard.

But no one could handle the back nine of the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course like Janzen, who took a three-stroke lead into the final round.

"The guys who went out early in the morning were the ones who had a chance to do it," Janzen said after he shot a 69 on the firm and fast course to finish 54 holes at 10-under-par 206, with Glen Day at 209 and Justin Leonard at 211.

For a while it looked like those early guys would catch Janzen.

Faldo made birdies on four of the first six holes and went out in 33. But the best he could do on the back nine was a 37.

Els shot a 31 on the front side, then came back in 39.

It has been Janzen's ability to own the back nine this week -- with the dangerous closing stretch of Nos. 16, 17 and 18 wrapping around the water -- that have him in the lead. Janzen has played those nine holes 10-under par in three rounds and has yet to make a bogey.

He lengthened his lead and separated himself from the field when he played the last 10 holes 3-under par, rolling in birdie putts on Nos. 9, 14 and 16.

The 69 by Janzen was especially impressive because no one shot below 68 and there were only six rounds in the 60s.

"The other guys will have to shoot at the pins and that makes it tougher," Janzen said about the final round. "I can't do anything to let them catch up. As long as I make pars that will help me."

But the hard, fast conditions still make for a scary Sunday.

"It's not as much of a lead if the course were soft," Day said, implying that Janzen could stumble. "A three-shot lead here ... you never knows what's going to happen."

Even Janzen seemed to agree.

"Disaster is waiting on every hole," he said.

Janzen, whose one-stroke victory here in 1995 was the only winning margin in the tournament fewer than four strokes since 1991, has always played his best when the courses are at their toughest.

The course played very much like at a U.S. Open, the tournament Janzen won at Baltusrol in 1993 when the winning score was 8-under par, or even the way the Stadium Course played in 1995 when Janzen won at five under par.

Those scores are a far cry from the 16-under-par score Steve Elkington shot while winning on a much softer and more receptive Stadium Course last year. Or the record 24 under par by Greg Norman in 1994.

The steady round by Janzen made Sunday's hurdle a lot higher for an impressive group of players.

Lehman, Mickelson, Mark Calcavecchia and Scott Hoch were at 212 -- still a doable six strokes back -- with Nick Price, Els, Couples, Billy Mayfair and Lee Westwood among those at 213.

Daly, who got a coin at an alcohol support group before the round marking one year of sobriety, made two early bogeys, but fought his way back to three under par for the tournament.

But he finished with shots in the water on the island-green 17th hole and No. 18 en route to two double bogeys and shot a 76 to be at 217, 11 strokes behind.

Leonard, who like Janzen fares well when birdies are hard to come by, shot a 70 in the third round with 12 one-putt greens.

"It seemed like all day I was either making a 12-footer for birdie or a 6-footer for par," Leonard said.

Twice last year, including in the British Open, Leonard came from five strokes back in the final round to win.

"The more difficult the golf course the more advantage I have," Leonard said.

Els made the biggest move of the day, but missed several fairways by less than a yard on the back side and squandered a great opportunity.

"I had a chance today and I just didn't take advantage of it," Els said. "I missed too many fairways on the back nine and the greens are so firm if you miss the fairway, the greens are not going to hold the ball."

Nick Faldo pulled within two strokes with consecutive birdies on Nos. 11 and 12. But he went bogey, double bogey -- duffing a chip and then three-putting -- and fell back.

Tiger Woods never made a move. He bogeyed his first hole and shot an erratic 73 to finish 54 holes at 2-over-par 218.

Although he insists he is close to top form with The Masters less than two weeks away, virtually no part of Woods's game has been strong at the Stadium Course. Through three rounds, he has hit only 55 percent of the fairways and 63 percent of the greens and has averaged more than 30 putts per round.

Joe Ozaki, the co-leader with Janzen starting the third round, shot a 76 to fall seven strokes behind.