"When I won in Hawaii, the same thing happened," he said. "I've done it before."
And he has been around long enough to know how much can change over the final 18 holes, especially on this course with a tenuous lead.
Perry, 47, made the only birdie among 74 players on the 14th hole and had 14 pars, perhaps the most meaningful one on the 18th. After driving into the rough and laying up short, he hit sand wedge to 10 feet and made the putt to get into the last group.
"There's no other game plan -- survival," Perry said.
So many others couldn't last.
Fred Couples didn't made a birdie until the 11th hole and shot 77, taking himself out of the tournament. Ernie Els was 4 over through his first four holes and played hard to return a 74, but he was still eight shots behind.
Anthony Kim appeared to finally run out of gas after winning the Wachovia Championship last week. He was two shots out of the lead until running off four straight bogeys, then hitting into the water on the final two holes for a triple bogey-double bogey finish and a 79.
Goydos doesn't have an endorsement deal with his clubs, and lost a corporate deal with Pep Boys. Goydos showed up at Sawgrass with a cap he bought at an airport -- the Long Beach State baseball team, with the nickname "Dirtbags" written on the bill.
It's a perfect fit for Goydos, who plods along.
He knocked in a pair of 18-foot birdie putts early in his round -- from about the same distance that Garcia missed all day -- but was particularly impressive following his mistakes. A three-putt bogey on the seventh was followed by a 5-foot birdie on the 219-yard eight. A bogey with a wedge in his hand on the ninth was followed by a 20-foot birdie on the 10th.
"Sergio played pretty well," Goydos said. "I'm sure he was looking at me and kind of wanting to throw up."
That might have been the case at the 17th, where Garcia hit a terrific sand wedge to just outside 10 feet and walk off with bogey, while Goydos hit it just inside him and made the bending putt.
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