Can Tiger Woods keep it in play at Players?

Reporting from Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Tiger Woods made better use of the fairway during Wednesday morning’s final practice round for the Players Championship, putting just one ball in the water on the same TPC Sawgrass back nine where he had dunked five one day earlier.

Woods found serious trouble only at the par-four 14th hole, hooking his drive into the water and hanging his second attempt out to the right. With his ball perhaps six inches off the cart path, a planned hook curled too much and plopped into a greenside bunker.

The rest of his round approached even par, with a handful of birdie opportunities that didn’t go in.

His stats for the nine holes: Four of seven fairways, seven of nine greens in regulation.

Teeing off just after 7 a.m. — half an hour before fans were allowed through the gates — golf’s No. 1 draw was able to play several holes in relative tranquility until reaching the 16th hole. The crowd swelled to a few hundred at the island 17th and the par-four final hole.

Woods, who kept his practice to just nine holes for the third consecutive day, is trying to bounce back from his sixth missed cut — and perhaps his most unsightly — since turning pro nearly 14 years ago. A 74-79 at last week’s Quail Hollow Championship was his highest 36-hole score as a professional and left him ahead of just 10 other entrants.

The tournament has all the ingredients for a big show this year. Phil Mickelson has a chance to go to No. 1 in the world for the first time in his career, provided Woods finishes out of the top five.

Henrik Stenson is the defending champion, and Europeans are trying to win this event for the third consecutive year. Those hopes lie with players like Rory McIlroy, who celebrated his 21st birthday Tuesday only two days after winning at Quail Hollow with a round of 62.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.