Golf: Woods closes in on victory at Sawgrass

Tiger Woods was closing in on the Players Championship as his main rivals faltered at Sawgrass.

He had a three-stroke lead over Vijay Singh and Jerry Kelly with four to play.

Bernhard Langer, another of the prime contenders, had begun with a bogey five to fall three behind Woods with eight holes to play.

Twenty-two players had been unable to finish on Sunday following a three-hour rain delay, but attention focused on four of them.

Woods was 12 under par, Singh and Kelly 11 under and Langer 10 under.

Langer's first shot, however, was a tough par putt on the 10th and 15 hours after marking his ball he missed it.

The 43-year-old has not won since the 1997 German Masters, and his last US Tour success was the 1993 Masters.

He had been runner-up in the Players to Nick Price just before that and was again to Lee Janzen two years later.

This time Langer came through the field with back-to-back 68s in the second and third rounds and followed that with a superb front nine 33 before play was called off for the day.

Woods had matched Langer's 33, however, and he set off again in spectacular fashion by hitting his second shot to the 10th to less than six inches for a tap-in birdie and two-stroke lead.

Langer hit a brilliant second to the par five 11th, but missed his 12-foot eagle attempt.

Langer did convert a 15-foot birdie chance on the 12th and with Woods failing to birdie the long 11th he was only two behind again and up to joint third with Kelly.

Singh remained the biggest danger to Woods, though. He played a brilliant bunker shot from short of the 11th green and holed from seven feet to be one behind.

Langer could hardly afford any more mistakes, but one came straightaway when he three-putted the short 13th after his tee shot, close to being perfect, had stayed on top of the ridge.

Singh did catch the slope down to the hole, however, and with the ball stopping less than three feet away he birdied to draw level with Woods.

Woods looked to have pulled his drive at the 12th into the rough, but the ball skipped on to the fairway and his 60-yard pitch stopped six feet from the cup.

He made it, predictably, to go back into sole possession of top spot.

Langer, yet to have a par on the back nine, hit his approach to the difficult 467-yard 14th to 10 feet and made it to get back to 11 under.

When Singh came to the hole, though, he had a nightmare. A hooked drive into water led to a triple bogey seven and handed Woods a three-stroke lead over Langer and Kelly.

Langer's rollercoaster ride continued as he bogeyed the 15th, then made a 20-foot birdie putt at the long 16th.

With Sawgrass's treacherous finish it was still not over, but it was Kelly who cut Woods' lead back to two when he holed from 10 feet on the 15th.

Singh revived his hopes with an incredible eagle on the 16th. His second shot finished on the collar of rough and to play his next he decided to use the toe-end of his putter - and from 18 feet holed.

The Fijian joined Kelly at 12 under and Langer should have done too when he hit his tee shot to five feet on the short 17th, but the putt missed.

Singh cut the gap to one with a four-footer on the 17th, but Woods was on in two back at the 16th and from 40 feet lipped out for eagle.

His birdie, however, restored a two-stroke advantage.