Kirk Heads into Sunday atop Players Championship


Chris Kirk carded a 4-under 68 to take a one-stroke lead going into the final round at the Players Championship. The $10 million PGA Tour event, golf's so-called "fifth major," is taking place at the TPC Sawgrass course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Kirk, a 30-year-old from Knoxville, rose into contention after three birdies on the front nine. On the back, the three-time Tour winner - whose latest victory came last September at the Deutsche Bank Championship - bogeyed Nos. 13 and 14 but birdied the next three holes to enter Sunday at 10-under 206.

Tied for second at 207 are Kevin Kisner (67), Ben Martin (68) and Bill Haas (68). Sharing eighth another stroke back are fellow Americans Justin Thomas (65), Scott Brown (69), Kevin Na (72) and Jerry Kelly (72), Spain's Sergio Garcia (67) and Canada's David Hearn (70).

Na, who just missed a birdie putt on the famed island green at the par-3 17th that would have given him the outright lead, could have been in the final group Sunday with Kirk but he double-bogeyed the par-4 18th. After his drive landed in the right rough, Na - who came into Saturday tied for the lead with Kelly - hit into a greenside pot bunker. He punched out to 45 feet and three-putted to drop out of the lead.

Thomas's 65 matched Kelly's 7-under effort on Friday for the low round of the tournament. The 22-year-old Kentuckian, a Tour rookie, posted a whopping 10 birdies - and three bogeys - on the difficult Pete Dye-designed course.

His birdie total set a new tournament record; Venezuela's Jhonattan Vegas matched the previous mark of nine earlier in the day en route to a 66. "That was cool. I had no idea," Thomas told PGATour.com of the record. "I didn't really realize I had made 10 birdies until I got done."

Trailing Kirk by three are Americans Chesson Hadley (66), Pat Perez (68), Billy Horschel (69), Derek Fathauer (69) and Rickie Fowler (71), and Japan's Ryo Ishikawa (69).

His 66 brought Vegas into a tie for 17th at 210 with Australians John Senden (67) and Adam Scott (69), South African Rory Sabbatini (69), England's Ian Poulter (70) and Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy (71), and Americans Bubba Watson (69), Brian Harman (70) and Zach Johnson (71).

McIlroy had the weirdest shot of the day when, on his third stroke at the par-5 ninth hole, his club went under the ball from the deep rough and it didn't advance. Still, the No. 1-ranked player in golf managed a par.

The 26-year-old McIlroy knows he needs to muster some magic to challenge for the Players' title and the winner's take of $1.8 million and 600 FedEx Cup points. "Tee to green it's been really good, I've given myself a lot of chances and really could not convert much," he told Sky Sports after his round.

"I've struggled to read the greens all week and just don't quite have it on the greens like I did last week [when he won the WGC-Cadillac Match Play]. I've left myself in a position where I am going to need something pretty special tomorrow to have a chance; a 64 or 65 to get somewhere around 13 or 14 under. I think that would go very close."

After opening with rounds of 73 and 71 to make the cut of even-par 144, Tiger Woods had a 75 to drop into a tie for 68th.

For all the scores, visit http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html.