Journeyman Goydos shines at Sawgrass

(GETTY IMAGES)

No one was more surprised than Paul Goydos after the American journeyman claimed a 54-hole lead for the first time on the PGA Tour at the Players Championship here in Sawgrass, Florida, on Saturday.

"This is my 16th year [on Tour] and this is my first Saturday lead," Goydos said after taking a one-stroke lead with a two-under-par 70. "I guess I was due."

Goydos, a former substitute teacher, is known for his dry wit and is nicknamed "Sunshine" because of his stone-faced demeanour. He is a double winner on the PGA Tour but has missed four cuts in nine previous starts at the Players Championship.

Sergio Garcia bogeyed the final two holes to fall three strokes behind while Bernhard Langer fell five strokes behind.

South Africa's Hennie Otto won the Italian Open in Milan yesterday for his first European Tour title – but only after he had lost a five-shot lead for the second time in four tour starts. Beaten in a play-off by Scot Alastair Forsyth in Madeira in March, the 31-year-old this time beat England's Oliver Wilson by a shot. Sweden's Robert Karlsson was third.