Golf Events / Editor / 13 May 2007 /

A first-time winner to The Players' Championship looks guaranteed on Sunday as Sawgrass prepares itself for one of the most exciting climaxes in the tournament's history.

The top 15 players are all yet to taste success on Pete Dye's infamous Stadium course and, with six shots covering them going into the final round, there promises to be plenty of ups and downs before the winner is crowned.

After birdies at his final three holes on Saturday on his way to a 66, Sean O'Hair holds a slender one-stroke lead at nine-under over crowd favourite and world number three Phil Mickelson with Jeff Quinney and Peter Lonard a shot further back.

But the likes Luke Donald, Aaron Baddeley, Chris DiMarco, Carl Pettersson, Jose Coceres, Geoff Ogilvy and Tim Clark all lurk nearby and everything seems set for a grandstand finish.

Despite losing the lead he held at the halfway stage, three-time Major winner Mickelson is still the market leader and is trading at 2.88 to win, with O'Hair available to back to win 4.6 - having started the week trading around 140.

Lonard, a previous winner on the PGA Tour, can be backed at 14 to win, a point and a half ahead of Donald, ahead of tour rookie Quinney (19), Chris DiMarco (20), FBR Open winner Baddeley (25) and Pettersson (29).

O'Hair and Mickelson's methods in climbing their way to the top of the leaderboard could not have been more different this week.

O'Hair, who is seeking his second PGA title after winning the John Deere Classic in 2005, has been the most accurate player off the tee all week and has so far hit 36 out of 42 fairways after three rounds.

That includes finding an impressive 20 out of 21 fairways on Sawgrass' demanding back nine and if he maintains that sort of form when the pressure is on he will be a difficult player to beat.

O'Hair is available to back at 1.7 to come in the top five while he is trading at 2 to beat Mickelson in their final two-ball, with his opponent favourite to outscore him at 1.55.

Mickelson has made a reputation for himself over the years for being able to escape from tricky spots but even he has surpassed himself this week.

In direct contrast to O'Hair, the left-hander has missed more than half the fairways in the first three days - despite being spotted working with coach Butch Harmon on the practice range six hours before he was due to tee off on Saturday.

Despite having won three Majors, Mickelson has only ever finished once in the top three at The Players' - in 2004 - and he has never shot a round in the 60s on the final day in nine attempts.

He is almost certainly the only one of the 'Big Four' still in with a chance of winning and their odds have now been pushed out to 2.64 with 'The Field' available to back at 1.5.

Lonard, trading at 3 to come in the first five, catapulted himself into contention after sinking a 211-yard five iron for an albatross two at the par-five second on Saturday and is a player who sometimes doesn't get the credit he deserves.

Quinney's odds also look attractive and the former US Amateur champion, who has already managed four top-ten finishes this season, could also be a good bet if he can reproduce the form that helped him shoot a best-of-the-day 64 on Saturday.

Donald, Baddeley, Coceres, DiMarco and Pettersson are all in the group on five-under, just four shots off the pace, and the leaders will all be aware of the threat that they pose in the final round.

Donald, joint second here two years ago, has taken time to warm to the task this week but he likes the course and the putts have started to drop, as his third-round 65 highlights.

The Englishman is trading at 2.5 to finish in the top five while he is the new favourite at 2.52 to emerge as the top European, ahead of Pettersson (3.6), Sergio Garcia (6.4) and Jose Maria Olazabal (9) - who both lie on the three-under mark.

Baddeley has a habit of saving his best golf for the final two rounds - he won the FBR Open title by shooting back-to-back 64s - and looks an attractive bet, especially to finish as top Australian where he trades at 4.3 behind Lonard (2.44).

Coceres' form has been a revelation this year and, having already finished second twice in successive weeks in 2007, he should not be overlooked.

While others have struggled on the newly-laid greens this week, the Argentine - who can be backed at 42 to win and 3.4 to finish in the first five - has relished the surfaces and is averaging just 25 putts for his first three rounds.

US Open champion Ogilvy (34 to win) and South African Clark (a generous-looking 65 to triumph) cannot be ruled out after carding 67s on Saturday to move to four-under.

Double US Masters champion Olazabal also looks an interesting betting proposition and is capable of posting a challenging early score on the final day having followed up his six birdies in seven holes on Friday with five successive birdies in his third round.

He is trading at 150 to win, 4.9 to come in the top five and 3.25 to finish in the top ten, while two-time Players' champion Steve Elkington is included in the group seven shots off the lead and maybe a good bet at 5 to finish in the top ten - particularly as he would have been even closer but for a poor finish to his third round.

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