By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Only once has there been a three-way tie going into the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship -- in 1985 Hale Irwin, Calvin Peete and D.A. Weibring shared the top spot before Peete shot 66 to win by three.

Don't be surprised if something similar happens this year. Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia have both won here before. So has Stenson, who is a shot back of Woods, Garcia and the other leader rookie David Lingmerth.

Speaking of Lingmerth, only three times in the 39 previous years of this tournament has a player shot all four rounds in the 60s. Lingmerth is the only player to have done so through the first three this week.

The best finish by a rookie here? A tie for third by Fulton Allem in 1988 and Camilo Villegas in 2003.

As for Woods and Garcia, Woods is 52-for-56 on the PGA TOUR when leading or sharing the lead after 54 holes. Garcia? He's just 3-for-9.

Also of note: Woods has posted rounds of par or better 21 of 23 times on TOUR this season. With the wind kicked up and the golf course playing firm and fast by the time the final groups tee off, who knows, par might be good enough.

Stenson, meanwhile, has performed well here before -- when he won in 2009, he closed with a 66.

This season, Stenson already has a runner-up in Houston and a tie for eighth at Bay Hill on his resume.

Who do you think will win? Discuss below.

A quick start on Sunday could propel Tiger Woods to a second PLAYERS win. (Chris Condon/PGA TOUR)

By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Tiger Woods was hungry and ready to call it quits when the horn sounded Saturday night to halt the third round of THE PLAYERS Championship because of darkness. But with the option of being able to finish his hole -- he had just hit his tee shot at the par-4 15th -- Woods huddled with caddie Joe LaCava to discuss Sunday morning's weather forecast.

Had the forecast called for windy conditions, Woods would have finished the hole in the Saturday darkness.

"But it's supposed to die down," Woods said. "Hopefully I'll have a little bit more benign conditions for that second shot."

Woods and Sergio Garcia, in the final group, have the most holes to finish when play resumes at 7:10 a.m. ET. Although it's a challenge to get up early, the favorable scoring condtions could allow both players (each at 10 under) to make up ground on leader David Lingmerth, who is at 12 under with one hole to play.

Woods wasn't even aware that Lingmerth was leading when play was stopped. And he doesn't know much about the PGA TOUR rookie.

But, in somewhat ominous tones, Tiger said, "I'll see him tomorrow."

Woods was even par on his round through the first 14 holes, managing a birdie at the second, a bogey at the third and 11 consecutive pars after that.

Woods had his chances, but missed three birdie attempts on holes 10, 11 and 12 by a total of nine inches. Those putts came after play had resumed from a two-hour weather delay.

"I hit good putts," Woods said. "The greens slowed up just enough where those putts before the delay, those putts would have gone in if they would have had a little bit more pace to them. 

"I needed to make the adjustment, and I didn't quite do it. They were maybe about six inches short of being perfect pace, and as you know late in the day, the holes get a little bit domed and you can see the ball kind of fall off on the edge of the holes."

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- The final pairing of Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia tees off at 2:40 p.m. on Saturday. Here's a closer look at each of them, plus who and what else to watch for this afternoon at TPC Sawgrass.

Webb Simpson (1:30 p.m. ET): The reigning U.S. Open champion seemed to turn the corner at Hilton Head, where he finished second after losing in a playoff. This week, he's third in fairways hit and enters Saturday five back.

Jason Dufner (1:30 p..m ET): He had six birdies and just one bogey in the second round and is one of the best ball-strikers in the game. He also finished sixth here two years ago.

Zach Johnson (1:50 p.m. ET): The last four finishes for Johnson here: T32, T22, T12, T2. See the trend? A couple late bogeys on Friday hurt, but Johnson is still in the mix four back.

Adam Scott (1:50 p.m. ET): Playing for the first time since his Masters victory, Scott is in position to go after his second PLAYERS title (he won here in 2004). He's just four shots back.

Hunter Mahan (2 p.m. ET): After struggling in his last few starts, Mahan has turned it around here, hitting 75 percent of his greens in regulation.

Matt Kuchar (2 p.m. ET): No player has ever won this tournament two years in a row. After a 66 Friday, Kuchar has a chance and enters the third round just four shots back.

Ryan Palmer (2:20 p.m. ET): The Texan is playing with a heavy heart after a longtime friend was killed in a car accident Thursday night. He's wearing the initials "CA" on his hat in honor of him.

Henrik Stenson (2:20 p.m. ET): The 2009 champion is in contention again after making two eagles in the second round (on the par-5 second and ninth holes). When he won here four years ago, he shot a final-round 66.

Lee Westwood (2:30 p.m. ET): The Englishman has finished fourth, fifth and sixth here. All that's missing is a win. He's the only player without a bogey through the first two rounds.

Tiger Woods (2:40 p.m. ET): It's been a dozen years since Woods has won here, but he said all facets of his game are clicking right now and it's showed so far with his best 36-hole start in his history here.

Sergio Garcia (2:40 p.m. ET): Like Woods, Garcia has won here before (in 2008), but he's struggled at times playing alongside the world No. 1 with five his last six rounds in the 70s when the two have been paired.

Woods has outplayed Garcia more often than not when the two have been paired. (Getty Images)

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- The first time Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia were paired together on the PGA TOUR was in the opening round of the 1999 Masters. Both shot even par.

The rivalry has been one-sided ever since.

Woods owns a 12-3-4 advantage, has a decidedly better scoring average (69.84 to 71.95) and in the dozen tournaments the 19 rounds have come in, Woods has won eight of them.

That’s not exactly good news for Garcia, who is nursing a one-shot lead over Woods at THE PLAYERS Championship, where the two will tee off in the day’s final pairing at 2:40 p.m. ET Saturday.

But the root of Tiger’s enjoyment of success over Sergio can be traced back to one of the times it went the other way and Garcia got the best of Woods.

It was 2000 and Garcia celebrated as he closed out Woods on the final hole of the made-for-TV Battle at Bighorn. Woods, meanwhile, had just come off exhausting wins at the PGA Championship and NEC Championship, flown all night to make it to California and was sick with the flu.

The next four times the two were paired together on TOUR? Woods got the better of Garcia every time, and he went on to win on three occasions.

The most notable of their recent pairings came in the final round of the 2006 British Open at Royal Liverpool, where Garcia was clad head-to-toe in canary yellow and Woods in his Sunday red. Garcia shot 73, Woods 67 with Woods winning by two and Garcia finishing fifth, seven shots back.

More recently, Woods has outperformed Garcia five of the last six times they've been paired, including each of the last four, with the most recent of those coming in the second round of last year's British Open.

What will happen Saturday?

Both players have won here before -- Woods in 2001 and Garcia in 2008 -- but Woods arrived this week off three wins and has finished outside the top five just once in stroke-play competition this season on TOUR.

"I'm pleased with every facet of my game," Woods said. "I feel like I'm driving it well, hitting it well with my irons, my distance control is good, short game is really solid, and I'm making my share of putts."

And much like Woods brings the best out in Phil Mickelson, another player with whom he’s shared a rivalry through the years, Garcia seems to bring the best out in Woods.

Garcia-Woods groupings on the PGA TOUR

Watch highlights of Tiger Woods' round of 67 on Friday at THE PLAYERS Championship

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Tiger Woods started his pro career with the memorable words: "Hello, world."

Judging from his comments Friday after he shot his second-straight 67 at TPC Sawgrass during the second-round of THE PLAYERS Championship, Woods might as well have been saying, "watch out, world" with his clubs.

"I'm pleased with every facet of it," Woods said when asked what the best part of his game was right now. And what's not to like?

"I feel like I'm driving it well, hitting it well with my irons, my distance control is good, short game is really solid, and I'm making my share of putts.

Through two rounds, Woods has hit 27 of 36 greens in regulation, 19 of 28 fairways and used 54 putts to pull within a shot of the leader, Sergio Garcia at 11 under. He's made one eagle, 11 birdies and dropped just three strokes to par.

Not bad at a course where he's only posted one top-10 finish since he won THE PLAYERS in 2001, a year after finishing second to Hal Sutton. Of course, Woods was quick to point out that he'd actually won twice on the Stadium Course, referencing the first of his three U.S. Amateur titles in 1994.

"So for me, even though over the years I haven't played my best here, but I've always felt that courses, even though it's been a while I've won on them, I've still won on them," Woods said. "I know how to get around this golf course. This course, more than most, really tests every facet of your game. 

"You have to drive the ball well. You have to hit your irons in the correct spots, and if you don't hit your irons in the correct spots, you're going to have some really funky up and downs. It's trying to manage the ball in the correct spots, and I've done that the first two days."

Woods isn't surprised, either. After all, he has won three times this year and leads the FedExCup standings.

"I think that is the key," Woods said. "You just have to come here playing well, and I just thought what I've done so far this year has been pretty good and better than most. I think that I was headed in the right direction coming into this week. I played well at Augusta. My last two weeks of practice have been really solid and I came in here with some confidence."

Tiger Woods talks about his game and the conditions at TPC Sawgrass with Mark Carnevale from SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio after shooting a second-round 67.

Tiger Woods shot a 5-under 67 to heading into the weekend at the THE PLAYERS. Watch some of his best shots in the video below. 

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Only two players have a mathematical shot to catch Tiger Woods in the FedExCup standings but there could be a change at the top of the Official World Golf Ranking this week.

Of course, considering Woods is now tied with Sergio Garcia for the lead THE PLAYERS Championship at 10 under, all could be a moot point.

Woods currently has 1,740 FedExCup points -- which is 343 more than Brandt Snedeker and 535 ahead of Billy Horschel. The winner of THE PLAYERS gets 600 points.

McIlroy could regain the No. 1 spot in the world if he wins his first PLAYERS and Woods finishes 13th alone or lower. Mclroy shot 66 in the first round and tees off at 1:39 p.m. ET.

Tiger Woods makes a birdie on the 12th hole during the second round of THE PLAYERS Championship.

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Tiger Woods has seamlessly picked up where he left off during Friday's second round of THE PLAYERS Championship. But he's not the only one moving up the leaderboard.

Woods, who started on the back, birdied two of his first three holes on putts of 12 and 4 feet. But the FedExCup leader and world No. 1 gave one shot back at the 14th hole when he missed the fairway right, the green left and couldn't negotiate an 18-footer for par. He two-putted for birdie from 21 feet at the 16th hole, though, and is now 7 under for the tournament.

Meanwhile, Lee Westwood closed the gap on overnight leader, Roberto Castro, who tees off at 12:46 p.m., to one when he made the turn in 31 -- which is one stroke off the back-nine record held by 14 people. Westwood is 8 under for the tournament.

The Englishman almost immediately got things going in the right direction when he holed a wedge from 94 feet for eagle at the par-5 11th, then made birdie putts of 14 feet and 12 inches at the next two holes. Westwood capped his first nine off with an 8-footer for birdie at the 18th hole.

Kevin Chappell, who opened with a 69, has made up the most ground, starting on the back nine and making the turn in 32. He made an 11-footer for eagle at the 11th hole, then added birdies at Nos. 12, 13 and 16. He bogeyed Nos. 18 and 1 but got back on track with a 16-footer for birdie at the par-5 second and a 10-footer at No. 4 to tie Westwood.

Ryan Palmer has just played the front nine in 35 and is 6 under for the tournament. Also on the course at that number is Webb Simpson, who has made two birdies and a bogey in eight holes on the back nine.

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Tiger Woods has just one career victory in THE PLAYERS Championship.

He nearly had his first bogey-free round, too.

Woods was near flawless Thursday at TPC Sawgrass, where he made six birdies on his way to a 67, which came within a stroke of matching his career low here.

"I felt like I hit the ball good enough, but more importantly, I missed the ball in all the correct spots," said Woods, who also broke 70 in the first round of THE PLAYERS for the first time in his career. "I left myself some easy up‑and‑downs, and I was able to convert those up‑and‑downs."

Through his first 12 holes, Woods had nine one-putts.

He was also abloe to make birdies, at one point pouring in four straight in the middle of his round, and finished the day 18-for-19 on putts inside 10 feet.

Overall, Woods hit 10 of 14 fairways and 12 greens in regulation and finished with 24 putts.

The only hiccup for Woods came on the 18th.

Woods hit 8-iron from 200 yards on the 469-yard finishing hole, but his ball trundled off the back of the green, leaving him a difficult up-and-down.

Facing a delicate chip shot up the slope to the short side of the hole, Woods left his shot in the fringe before taking two more to get down.

"I was surprised how far the ball was going," Woods said. "The ball was just traveling out there."

Still, Woods is in good position. He is in a tie for fourth four shots off the lead of Roberto Castro, who had a course record-tying 63.

Though it's been a dozen years since Woods has won here, and he hasn't finished in the top 10 during that period, he arrived this week with three wins this season. He has also finished outside the top just once in his five stroke-play starts on the PGA TOUR.

Friday, Woods hopes he can take advantage of an early tee time the way Castro did in the opening round.

"This afternoon, the short ones were not easy," he said. "There were a lot of spike marks, lot of bumps. The greens will certainly be smoother."