PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Unlike Davis Love III, Adam Scott has a chance to redeem himself at The Players Championship.
Scott shot a 10-over 82 in the third round Saturday, making him the second player in two days to drop from the leaderboard to near the back of the pack.
Love was a record-tying 18 shots worse between the first and second rounds and became the first player in the 33-year history of the PGA Tour’s showcase event to go from leading the field to missing the cut.
Scott was slightly better, but only because he rebounded after shooting 45 on the front side of the Stadium Course at Sawgrass.
‘I think Davis was much in the same boat,’ said Scott, the 2004 Players champion who, unlike Love, stopped to talk after his disappointment. ‘When you just get in the worst spots, there’s no forgiveness.’
The Australian started the day 7 under, one shot behind Jim Furyk, but carded a bogey or worse on nine of his first 11 holes.
Scott really struggled on the par-4 fifth, hitting his second shot into thick rough left of the hole and then needing two chips to get on the green. He two-putted for his second double bogey of the day.
‘I really can’t explain what happened,’ he said. ‘I lost my rhythm and shots started tumbling left and right. I put it in the worst positions possible and couldn’t chip them close, three-putted a couple of times, couldn’t have a worse front nine.
‘I thought I did pretty well to hang on and shoot 10-over par. It’s ridiculous, but I felt like I was going to shoot 90 there for a while.’
Scott regrouped and played the final seven holes 1 under. Making his round more bearable was that he had his long locks trimmed Friday night, ending a bet that would have forced him to shave his head because he shot 80.
Scott, Sergio Garcia and Tim Clark made a wager earlier this year that whichever one of them shot 80 first would have his head shaved at the Masters. They also bet that whoever lasted the longest without getting a trim would get $500 from the other two.
When Scott had his cut, he forfeited the money but guaranteed being able to keep his curly brown hair.
Nonetheless, he gets a chance to atone for his mistakes in the final round Sunday.
‘It was a shame to do -- play my way out of the tournament,’ Scott said. ‘The good thing is I have (Sunday) to redeem myself. If it was Sunday, I would be suicidal at the moment.’
ISLAND TROUBLES:
Aaron Oberholser walked to the par-3 17th with a one-shot lead. He walked away two shots back.
Oberholser made a waterborne triple bogey on the famous island hole at the TPC at Sawgrass on Saturday, ruining his third round at The Players Championship. He didn’t even have the worst score at there, either.
With the pin up front and wind gusting to 20 mph, the 122-yard hole became one of the toughest on the Stadium Course.
There were 41 pars, 22 bogeys, five double bogeys and three others at the tournament’s signature hole. Bo Van Pelt and Vijay Singh were the only ones to birdie it Saturday.
That was out of reach for Oberholser after he his tee shot came up short.
‘I played great golf for 16 holes today,’ Oberholser said. ‘All you need is one poor swing under these conditions and you’re writing a 6 on the card.’
Even worse for Joey Sindelar and Steve Lowery. They each put two in the murky lagoon, prompting oohs and aahs from the biggest gallery on the course.
‘It’s a hard shot and it comes at a very pressure time in the round,’ Sindelar said. ‘It’s a mountain top within a mountain top at the golf course.’
The crowd cheered wildly when Sindelar’s third shot landed about 7 feet from the pin. He responded with a wave and a tip of his hat.
‘What are you going to do?’ said Sindelar, who aced No. 17 in the first round in 1999. ‘They know you feel like a jerk and we’ve all done it. Hopefully it won’t be the last time I’ll ever have the pleasure of putting one in that water, because that would mean I won’t be here.’
ANOTHER ACE:
Henrik Stenson had the third ace in two days at The Players Championship, and all three have come at No. 13.
Stenson’s 7-iron shot from 175 yards away bounced twice, then rolled into the cup for the 26th hole-in-one in tournament history. It was the first ace in any tournament for Stenson, but his second in a month. He had one in a practice round before the Match Play Championship.
‘Nothing in 20 years, then they come really frequently,’ he said.
ROOKIE WATCH:
The top two rookies on tour were paired together in the third round Saturday, and Camilo Villegas played considerably better than J.B. Holmes.
Villegas shot a 4-under 68, eight shots better than his playing partner.
Both of them, though, still have an outside shot to make the Masters field.
Villegas needs to finish at least fifth to have any chance to make the tour’s first major in two weeks. Holmes likely needs to finish in the top 30 to get into the field.
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