Patience pays off for Lee

Danny Lee played a largely mistake-free round to sit outright second heading into the final round of The Players Championship in Florida.

Starting the day in a tie for second with Charl Schwartzel and Patrick Cantlay but five shots back from leader Webb Simpson, the golfers knew they had work to do to move into contention.

While Schwartzel and Cantlay were falling away, allowing uncharacteristic errors to creep into their games with the pressure on, Lee remained calm to finish with a two-under 70. He is 12-under for the tournament, seven shots behind Simpson.

It wasn’t as if Lee was doing enough to put the heat on Simpson, but he was doing enough to retain his place and book a spot in the final group on the final day of the tournament.

Lee hit nine pars on the front, showing his consistency, and had his first birdie of the day on the par-five 11th when he escaped a greenside bunker before tapping in for four.

‘‘It was a good solid round today,’’ Lee said. ‘‘It was very windy out there. It wasn’t any- thing like the morning guys’ golf in the afternoon. I managed to stay very patient out there.

‘‘I had a lot of good shots, but it was just greens getting a little bit faster than yesterday.’’

It was a funny old round. The Kiwi had a number of birdie putts which went just past the hole, and also a number of impressive up-and-downs which meant he held par.

When standing over a par putt, he was as good as anyone on the course. Unfortunately for him, his putting wasn’t quite the same when aiming for birdie.

He said the hole locations were tough, with most meaning the golfers faced difficult slopes.

‘‘When I missed a birdie chance I wasn’t very disappointed,’’ he said. ‘‘I just had to make par every hole.’’

He did, however, edge closer to Simpson over the last few holes. Lee birdied the par-five 16th after leaving an eagle putt just short of the hole, then ran a birdie putt just past the hole on the par-three island hole 17th.

Lee’s playing partner, Cantlay, fell away in the second nine to end up eight-under for the tournament.

In the lead group, Simpson’s stunning tournament continued as he moved to 19-under, equal with Greg Norman’s Players Championship scoring record of 19-under through 56 holes. The highlight of his day was when he holed a bunker shot on the parfive 11th, giving him eagle.

Jordan Speith and Tiger Woods were two of the biggest movers on the day, with both shooting 7-under 65s to sit eightunder for the tournament, in a tie for eighth.

World No 1 Dustin Johnson is alone in third at 10-under after shooting a 69 on the third day.