Stroud lighting up Stadium Course in first visit to THE PLAYERS

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Chris Stroud's 66 on Saturday matched his low round of the year on the PGA TOUR.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Chris Stroud has been telling his wife all week that he's so close to playing great golf.

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Like the old saying that "talk is cheap," Stroud backed it up Saturday afternoon at THE PLAYERS with a sterling round of 66 to reach 11 under and position himself to be in the antepenultimate group Sunday.

While his best career finish seems a distant memory in 2007, when he tied for fifth at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans, the 28-year-old native of Beaumont, Texas entered this week brimming with confidence after consecutive cuts made in New Orleans (T21) and Quail Hollow (T29).

"For the last three weeks, I know that I'm getting the most out of my golf game," said Stroud, who played collegiate golf at Lamar University and married high school classmate, Tiffany. They now have a 6-month old daughter.

"This week has been almost perfect for me and the golf course has been near perfect. My putting is coming around and I feel I have a great chance to win tomorrow. I'll have to keep telling myself to be super patient, but I've put myself in a very good position."

Stroud's round Saturday started off non-eventful, but he admits, "A great up and down on No. 3 changed everything."

From that point, he birdied holes No. 4 and No. 6 on the front side before his only stumble on the day -- a bogey at the par-3 eighth. He found the magic on the backside on his way to a 31 with three birdies in a row on Nos. 10, 11, 12. Stroud even showed his scrambling ability on No. 16 with a birdie after a poor second shot into the crowd.

He wasted no time at the 17th and stuck a wedge shot six feet from the hole for one of the day's best and he went on to make the birdie.

What started as a small following of about 13 fans at the round's start turned into a larger group by the time he stepped up to the 18th tee, where old friend and Stroud's best man in his wedding, John Limanti, led the cheers.

"He is the most focused and positive person I've ever been around," said Limanti, who played on the Hooters Tour with Stroud a few years ago. "Guys on the PGA TOUR find themselves wanting to be around him because he's so positive."

Limanti, a Jacksonville resident, was invited by Stroud to walk the golf course with him on Tuesday and Wednesday and give him a few pointers.

"He was in such a great frame of mind," Limanti noted, "that I knew we could see something special this week."

Perhaps it's that type of attitude that has allowed Stroud to successfully graduate from q-school on three occasions on the PGA TOUR. For the first time in his career in 2009, Stroud didn't need q-school and finished in the top 125 on the money list.

"Being positive is just the way I live," said Stroud. "If you're not, I just believe you're going to fall off."

Stroud's wife, who organized the group of friends and family on the course today, calls the group the "Rowdy Stroudys". While they're certainly can't compare in number to "Arnie's Army" or "Funk's Punks", the following certainly got larger as Stroud climbed up the leaderboard inching him closer to a shot at his first PGA TOUR title.