I may have spoken too soon.  In my last entry, a little more than half an hour ago, I wrote that Paul Goydos was playing as if the pressure and the high winds were no factor.  Then on the often overlooked par 4 15th, Goydos took a bogey.  Now he's tied with Sergio Garcia at 5-under par, and just one stroke ahead of Jeff Quinney, who has been flying under the radar this week. 

It's a three horse race with three holes to go.

Be honest, you thought he would fold, right?  You thought that Paul Goydos, 43-year old former substitute teacher, who has been on the tour for 16 years and won only twice, would give in to the pressure of the final day at THE PLAYERS.

So far, he hasn't.  Through 13 holes, Goydos has played even par golf.  That's better than all but six goflers so far today.  Goydos holed out a shot from the greenside rough on 10, then stuck his approach shot on 12 to within 2 feet, four inches, and made it for another birdie.

The leaders are now on the course.  And like the other golfers, they are dealing with high winds, Sunday pin positions, and the pressure of playing in a big time championship.

For Paul Goydos, who began the final round in the lead, this could be a career defining victory should he hang on. 

I just returned from the course.  It is not nearly as windy as it was yesterday, so I think we'll see some players in the afternoon put up some scores.  The past two days, the afternoon has been brutal.

Looking at the top of the leaderboard, there are only three "big name" competators.  One of them is 50-year old Bernhard Langer.  one is Tom Lehman, who hasn't won a tournament of this stature since the 1996 Tour Championship.  The other, happens to be the defending champion, Phil Mickelson.

Just an observation away from the golf:  the Island Club ain't what it used to be.  It certainly ain't WHERE it used to be.  They have moved the Island Club from behind the 9th green to between the 10th and 16th fairways.  I popped in (in the interest of full reporting) and sensed a different atmosphere than in the past.

Maybe the location changes it a lot, or maybe I'm just getting older, but it was too much of a frat party.

Just got back into the media center from the course.  The wind is really picking up.  As former British Open Champion Todd Hamilton told me, the course is almost unfair when the wind blows like it is now.

Hamilton began the day at 3 under par after posting the best round among the afternoon golfers yesterday.

Sad story about Jeff Maggert's older brother dying in a single engine plane crash in Colorado.  Of course, Maggert has pulled out of the tournament.  It made me think of all of the travel that these guys do, many of them on private planes or small planes with fractional ownership.  We had the tragedy with Paine Stewart a few years ago, and to be honest, I'm surprised that we haven't had more.  It's just a matter of the number of times that these guys go up in small planes or helicopters.

I'm thankful that we haven't had any more of these tragedies.

As round 2 approaches, here are some interesting notes about THE PLAYERS Championship so far:

-Sergio Garcia's first round 66 puts him in good shape for the tournament, but that doesn't guarantee him a win.  In six previous tournaments in which Garcia has led after the first day, he's finished second three times, but never won.  Those second place finishes include two majors, the 1999 PGA Championship and last year's British Open.

Tee time and traffic collide as day two is in full swing at TPC Sawgrass.