His name was never far from the lead after an eagle on the par-5 10th, and he was only one shot behind when his tee shot on the 18th hole went left into the hazard. He took out an iron to see if he had a shot, but during one of his pre-shot waggles, the club moved a twig, and it's a two-stroke penalty for moving a loose impediment in the hazard.
Then came another penalty for taking the drop, and two putts from 20 feet for his triple bogey.
Verplank lost ground early.
He had gone 40 holes without a bogey at Disney until making his first one of the tournament on the par-4 fifth when he blasted a bunker shot 40 feet past the pin. He chipped weakly and missed a 6-foot par putt on the next hole to fall out of the lead.
From there, it became a revolving door of leaders with five players tied at one point.
When it finally sorted itself out, Verplank and Ames were on top and will be in the final group with Tim Petrovic, who played bogey-free on the back nine and quietly posted a 68.
Also at 204 were Mathew Goggin (69) and Jeff Overton (69). Heath Slocum shot a 69 and was alone in eighth at 205, followed by a group that included Wetterich, Rich Beem (70), Stewart Cink (70) and Robert Gamez (67).
It was a huge day for Gamez, who was is 152nd on the money list and at least wants to get inside the top 150 to secure some status for next year. Even better would be the top 125 for full status, and now he's only three shots away from the lead, knowing that a victory would sew up his job for two years.
Ridings, though, is the ultimate long shot. He was the 14th alternate when the field was set last week and got into the tournament. But at No. 210 on the money list, he needs nothing short of a victory to keep his card. Ridings was four shots behind on the back nine, seemingly sliding, but with the calamity that followed, he was right in the middle of it all.
Beem was among those tied for the lead, but made three straight bogeys for a 70. The former PGA champion is playing his fifth straight week, even though he locked up his card last week, and he's feeling the fatigue.
After a birdie on the 13th — a hole where he made eagle 2 on Friday — Beem flashed a 2-3 with his fingers, presumably his score.
"Oh, that's not my scores," he said. "That's how many holes are left (23) until I'm done."
It could take all 18 holes Sunday to figure out who wins the last event of the season.
DIVOTS: In perhaps the most baffling move of the day, Golf Channel cut off coverage of the third round when the leaders still had two holes to play. The reason? So it could switch to the Nationwide Tour event in San Diego. All viewers missed were Wetterich's bizarre penalty strokes that led to triple bogey and Ames' bogey on the 18th that reshaped the leaderboard. ... J.B. Holmes, who was 126th on the money list, shot a 70 and was among those three off the lead. Holmes already was assured his card for next year from his 2006 victory in Phoenix, but finishing in the top 125 gets him into The Players Championship.
