By Doug Ferguson
The Associated Press

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - His peers call him the old man. They tease Jay Haas about wearing glasses that sit on the end of his nose when he reads the newspaper.

Those same guys who joke about his age - 49 - must have been rubbing their eyes when they saw leaderboards Saturday afternoon at The Players Championship that showed Haas tied for the lead with Padraig Harrington.

One year away from joining the seniors, Haas matched the best score Saturday with a 5-under 67 that left him one round away from the biggest victory of his career.

"You would have to say this would be a pretty good upset against the talent that's out here today," Haas said.

The field looked a lot different when Haas competed in The Players Championship for the first time in 1977, when he shot the same score as Billy Casper and played against four guys who are now retired and working at Sawgrass this week as TV commentators.

"Tomorrow is a huge day for him," Fred Couples said.

Haas capped a string of three birdies by chipping in on No. 12 and ended another wacky day on the TPC at Sawgrass by making par after hitting a fan in the back on the 18th.

The final round might be as unpredictable as his position on the leaderboard.

Sixteen players were separated by five strokes, a group that included Tiger Woods after he birdied the final two holes.

Harrington recovered from a double bogey on No. 7 when he skulled his bunker shot over the green. He finished with seven pars and a 2-under 70 to join Haas at 11-under 205.

"It would be more fun to be in the middle of the pack," Harrington said. "But being in the lead is the ultimate test. It's why we play golf, to go out leading, under the pressure."

No one defined the fickle afternoon better than Craig Perks, who made only two pars after the sixth hole and nearly matched his remarkable finish last year - except he didn't get a trophy, only a 70.

That put Perks at 9-under 207, along with Davis Love III (70) and Couples (69).

Couples, 43, last year proposed a Major Champions Tour for guys between 35 and 50, saying many of them were too old to compete against the best and no old enough to be eligible for the Champions Tour.

Haas, who doesn't have a major among his nine victories, never liked the concept.

"I felt like if a guy was competitive at 44, why is 45 the number? Why is 50 the number?" he said. "It doesn't matter. I wasn't crazy about the idea. I wouldn't want to play anywhere else. This is the ultimate."

The final round Sunday could be his ultimate test.

This is the first time Haas has had at least a share of the 54-hole lead since the 1996 Disney Classic, which Woods won at age 20.

Woods, as he has done all week, squeezed everything out of his round and stayed in contention with one crucial par after another. None was bigger than the sixth hole, where he hit into the trees and had a 2-foot gap to get out of that mess.

"The way I've been hitting it ... it was more of a challenge today," Woods said. "I just focused a little bit more, beared down and I hit the ball absolutely perfect."

He went through the trees, but over the green and into a bunker, then blasted out to 3 feet and escaped with par.

The birdies were just as important. As bunched up as the field was on a rain-soften course, Woods went from 24th to 12th, that much closer to the lead, but still plenty of work left.

"I'm looking to where I can legitimately get to those guys tomorrow," Woods said. "Two birdies on the last two holes were huge. Hopefully, I can still get there."

Woods' best final-round comeback on the PGA Tour is five strokes at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am three years ago.

The tougher challenge is the number of players in the mix, all playing well on a Stadium Course that doesn't discriminate against long hitters or short, only those who can steer clear of trouble.

And there is plenty of it out there.

"We all know anything can happen on the last three holes," Woods said.

Perks won last year by getting in and out of trouble, chipping in for eagle on the 16th, making a 30-foot birdie on the island-green 17th and chipping in for par on the 18th. He made only three pars over the final 15 holes.

Saturday looked like instant replay.

Perks had only two pars in his final 13 holes, and it was no less thrilling on the famous three-hole stretch at the end - except that this was the third round, and the 18th hole wasn't as kind to him.

He chipped in for eagle on the 16th - from the other side of the green - holed a long birdie putt on the 17th and then pulled a 3-wood into the water and took bogey.

"I kind of have a flair for the dramatic here," Perks said.

Darren Clarke also is in the mix after a 5-under 67 left him at 8-under 208 with Corey Pavin. Jeff Maggert, Jim Furyk, Steve Flesch and Chad Campbell were 7 under.

The first prize is $1.17 million from golf's richest purse, but there is plenty more at stake for Haas and others.

This is the final tournament to become eligible for the Masters. Haas probably needs a top-10 finish to get back to Augusta National, which he considered a long shot at the start of his 27th season on tour.

The others - Pavin, Maggert, Flesch and Campbell - would have to win.

"One of my goals was to play Augusta one last time," Haas said.

A victory gives him a three-year exemption and, better yet, proof that he still has the game to beat players half his age.