SEAN O'HAIR, ABOVE, TEES OFF ON THE 18th HOLE during the third round of The Players Championmship. O'Hair shot a 6-under 66 on Saturday to take the lead after three rounds in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

PHIL MICKELSON LINES UP A PUTT on the 15th green. He sits one shot back of O'Hair.

Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. ? Of all the great shots struck Saturday at The Players Championship, Sean O’Hair thought his would turn out the worst.

He had watched Peter Lonard hole out a 5-iron for double eagle on the second hole, the rarest shot in golf. He heard the gallery roar when Phil Mickelson pulled off some magic by hitting out of a bunker through a gap in the trees no bigger than a kitchen window and onto the 10th green some 159 yards away.

O’Hair watched his 9-iron take flight on the 17th hole and wanted to throw up.

He bowed his head when he felt the wind die. He stuck his hand on his hip as he watched the ball descend from the blue sky to an island green that suddenly looked smaller. And he was so surprised when it stopped 5 feet from the cup for birdie that he slid his tongue out of the corner of his mouth, perhaps too stunned to do anything else.

“I felt like puking,” he said.

It was a strange reaction for a guy who is leading the richest tournament in golf.

That turned out to be the centerpiece of a birdie-birdie-birdie finish for O’Hair, the perfect way to polish of a 6-under 66 that gave him a one-shot lead over Mickelson going into the final round of golf’s richest tournament.

And it might have prepared him for the anxiety attack Sawgrass tends to deliver to anyone trying to cash in on a $1.62 million prize.

O’Hair was at 9-under 207 and will be paired with Mickelson, who needed a few fortunate bounces for his 69.

Mickelson’s tee shot on the par-5 16th caromed out of the trees, allowing him to carve an approach around the trees to 20 feet for a two-putt birdie. His tee shot on the 18th hugged the left side of the lake before finding land, setting up a final birdie.

Now for the final act.

“The last group is going to be fun,” Mickelson said.

But this is hardly a two-man show. Not at this golf tournament, and certainly not on this golf course.

Lonard played bogey-free after his double eagle until getting stuck behind a tree on the final hole and dropping a shot for 68. He was two shots behind with former U.S. Amateur champion Jeff Quinney, who shot a tournament-best 64.

Jose Coceres was among five players who had at least a share of the lead, but that changed when his 8-iron hopped over the island green and he took double bogey.