Lee Westwood wayward but still in control at the Players Championship

Lee Westwood's steady march towards expected victory at the Players Championship took an unexpected detour yesterday with a third round performance that saw him in the trees, in the occasional bunker and, finally, into what promises to be a dogfight when today's fourth and final round begins. Yet when the dust finally settled, the Englishman remained where he was at the beginning; at the head of the field, with a one-shot advantage over Robert Allenby of Australia, on 14 under par and two shots ahead of a group of players including Francesco Molinari. No offence to either of that pair, especially the Italian, who would boost his Ryder Cup chances with a victory here, but Westwood would fancy his chances against both. Likewise, the leaderboard presence of Ben Crane, on 12 under, is hardly likely to have the Englishman quaking in his Footjoys. But reigning US Open champion Lucas Glover, also on 12 under, and Phil Mickelson, on nine under after a third-round 66, might. The left-hander has a chance of vaulting over Tiger Woods this week to become world No1 but he needs to win and his rival needs to finish outside the top five. Woods is on course to keep his side of the bargain, scratching his way around to a one-under 71,tied for 45th. "You don't just go out there and play great golf. This is a process, especially since I haven't played at all,'' Woods said afterwards, chiding his critics for taking him at his word when he says he expects to win every time he plays. Mickelson, for his part, was equally snarky when asked about the prospect of becoming No1 for the first time in his career. "That's the last thing on my mind. I am in the middle of a golf tournament here, trying to get ready for tomorrow's round,'' he said. Precious victory for Westwood must still be considered the most likely outcome but he will have to play not as he did for long stretches yesterday but, rather, as he did in the opening two rounds. Then he looked unbeatable, seldom leaving his natural habitats – centre of the fairway, centre of the green – on his way to a 36-hole score of 132, 12 under par. He wasn't playing golf, he was painting pictures. Yet there is an air of menace about this TPC Sawgrass course, even when it is as benign as it has been throughout the week. Trouble lurks everywhere, waiting to penalise the slightest miscalculation or mistake and Westwood made a few of those yesterday, especially on and around the greens. His chipping is much improved over the past couple of years but, like his flubbed effort from in front of the 8th green yesterday, it remains a good bit short of where it is meant to be. That particular shot led to a bogey, one of two on a front nine that cost him his chance of putting distance between himself and the rest of the field. On the upside, no one plays the game better from tee to green than he does. He did not drive the ball as well as he had done in earlier rounds, hitting just six of 14 fairways, but he still hit the ball long and straight enough to take advantage of Sawgrass's four par-fives. Birdies on three of them, as well as another on the par-four 4th, courtesy of a lovely wedge shot to three feet, tipped the balance of the ledger back in his favour. And so did his demeanour, which never changes regardless of the circumstances or the quality of the shot he has played. There is Midlands dryness to Westwood's humour, but there is an unmistakable humanity about it, too: a sense that life does not begin and end with the accuracy (or otherwise) of a golf shot. Other things matter to him – for instance, he rose early yesterday morning to watch his beloved Nottingham Forest take on Blackpool in the play-offs – and that will serve him well in the final round, another big day of many in his recent career. Last month, it was the Masters, which he ultimately lost to Mickelson's marvellous Sunday play at Augusta. The Players Championship is hardly of the same stature but it certainly matters, not least because it will freshen up Westwood's Stateside CV, which to date records just one victory, the 1998 Freeport-McDermott Classic.