Garcia leapfrogs to commanding lead

CHARLOTTE, N.C.- Tied for the lead and facing a 20-minute wait on the eighth tee, Sergio Garcia was resting in the grass when he caught a frog. Someone told him to eat it, and he playfully held it by his mouth.

"Maybe I should have kissed it to see if it turned into a princess," Garcia said Saturday.

The way things are going at the Wachovia Championship, it would have turned into a crystal trophy.

Garcia blew away a world-class field at Quail Hollow with five birdies on the tough back nine to polish off the best round of the day, a 5-under 67, that gave him the biggest lead of his career.

Garcia was at 12-under 204 and had a six-shot lead over Jim Furyk, Vijay Singh and D.J. Trahan.

"I told you guys I was struggling with my putting," Garcia said. "I feel like I'm starting to see the end of the tunnel. I feel like things are starting to go a bit my way."

Trahan, a 24-year-old rookie, did his best to challenge Garcia until stumbling on the back nine to a 71. Furyk, in his best performance since wrist surgery a year ago, gave himself fleeting hope with a 33 on the back nine for a 69. Singh played in the group with Garcia and couldn't keep up, shooting a 71.

"He's lapping the field right now," Furyk said. "The golf tournament is in his hands; he's going to determine who the winner is. He goes out and shoots 70, you can hand him the trophy."

Quail Hollow has provided the toughest conditions of any PGA Tour course this year with its firm fairways and contoured greens that were running at 12 on the Stimpmeter.

Maybe Garcia didn't get the memo.

Nick Price, alone in fifth at 5-under 211 after a 69, predicted the winning score at 10 under.

"Sergio's already there," Price said. "For me to get there, I've got to shoot 5-under tomorrow, which is a tall order on this golf course."

This is not the kind of course where ground is made up quickly, unless the leader falters. And right now, that doesn't look possible by Garcia. Except for two wayward drives into the trees that cost him three shots, he was nearly flawless from tee-to-green and even better with his putter. "Unless he runs into some troubles, it's going to be hard to catch him," Trahan said. Tiger Woods, who has never finished worse than third after winning the Masters, might see that streak end with a thud. He squandered opportunities on the front nine and failed to make a birdie over the final 11 holes for a 73, leaving him at 1-under 215 and 11 shots behind. Phil Mickelson had a 73 and was at 1-over 217.

It was only the third time Garcia has held a 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour, although never one this big. The other two were at the 2001 Buick Classic and the Byron Nelson Championship last year, both times by two shots and he won both. He led by five shots in the Spanish Open in 2002 and won by four.

No one expects anything different this time.