A Rare Sand Putt Helps Floyd Stay Close to Sindelar

Ray Floyd climbed into the bunker with visions of a bogey--or worse--flashing through his mind. Then his eyes lit up.

“I saw that the sand was raked up flush with the lip of the trap, so that there was no lip,” Floyd said Saturday after the third round of the $700,000 Honda golf tournament. “I figured I had two options--use the sand wedge and try to play for a (bogey) four and I might make five, or go for the putter.”

He chose the latter and putted the ball from the sand within a foot of the cup for an easy save of par.

It was the highlight of a round of 68 that kept Floyd within two shots of the leader, Joey Sindelar, who is at 206 Sindelar also had a 68 and has a one-shot advantage over Ken Brown, who lost the lead when he bogeyed two of the last three holes for a 70 and a 207.

Floyd was tied at 208 with Sandy Lyle (70), Tommy Nakajima (71) and Ed Fiori (71).