Sergio -- and his incredible shrinking beard -- ready for Sunday

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IRVING, Texas -- His tee shots are landing justthiside of Dallas' West End.

They're heading for Texas Stadium and the Mid-Cities. And DFW airport. And Love Field.

So why in the name of the tournament namesake is Sergio Garcia sitting in the perfect spot to nab his second EDS Byron Nelson title?

Is Sergio Garcia's rapidly disappearing beard having an impact on his play? Top: First-round full face. Middle: Second-round goatee. Bottom: Third-round chin strap. (Dunn/Getty Images)

Seve golf. You remember the roller coaster rides. Pars from the car park or a garbage can. Birdies over scoreboards. Sideways off the tee, get it in the hole.

Yes, Sergio hit a whopping two fairways Saturday, equaled the week's low-round of 65 and moved up 27 places on the board. In fact, he's hit just 16 fairways for the week -- yes, 16 -- and he's sitting at 4-under-par 206, four shots behind leader Adam Scott going into Sunday's final round.

And Sergio shot 65 in the third round the year he won, too. He was hitting his iron shots like radar. But he was the leader after three rounds in 2004, not one of those chasing.

"Yeah, remember that,'' he said. "... I did drive the ball better that year. I think I missed one fairway only.

"The important thing for me is keep getting some good confidence on my side and just make sure that I keep going forward. At least now I have a chance of, a better chance of, winning tomorrow. It's just a matter of going out there and probably having to play close to today and see what happens. But it's good to be there.''

The reason? That darn short game. The one he seems -- finally -- to have back under control.

All it took was a couple of months with short game guru Stan Utley, a recycled Scotty Cameron putter and a set of new greens here at the TPC Four Seasons Las Colinas. Utley fine-tuned what Sergio's dad Victor couldn't. Then Sergio found his circa-2000 Scotty Cameron in an old golf bag.

"I saw it, and I put it down, and I loved it as soon as I put it down,'' Sergio said. "It just gave me a good vibe, so I decided to go with it. Two weeks before the Masters, I started practicing with it, and to tell you the truth, I felt like at The Masters I putted very nicely. Unfortunately I didn't really hole anything, but I hit a lot of good putts on those tough greens. ''

He missed the cut at Augusta by a shot -- his first missed cut of the year -- and now he's in contention for the second time this year. The first? Well, it was only kind of. He tied for seventh at the Commercialbank Qatar Masters in January, 10 shots behind Scott.

But here? He has good feelings here -- in fact, in North Texas period since he won the then 2002 Mastercard Colonial. This course allows players to get away with a few wayward shots -- Charley Hoffman who's at 5-under hit just five fairways -- thanks to the run-out areas. And, he's getting the feel of these new undulating greens.

"You know, the first couple of days, kind of like the same,'' Garcia said. "I felt like I hit a lot of good putts. I made a couple here and there. I've been pretty good on my short putts. You know, finally today they started dropping. I guess at the end of the day, that's pretty much the only thing you can do, just give the putt the best chance possible, and then it's out of your control what the ball is going to do.''

Since his eye fit the old course so well, he was curious about D.A. Weibring's tweaked layout, so Sergio called Dallas resident Gary Matthews, who caddies for Camilo Villegas and asked for a scouting report.

"When we come to a tournament, we want to come fully committed and wanting to do well,'' Sergio said. " You know, you've got to feel comfortable with what's under your feet.''

Matthews drove around the course -- it was closed for play -- and reported back.

"He said it was awesome, it looks very, very nice,'' Sergio said. "It looks just impeccable. So I said, perfect. I was always committed, so I didn't have to change anything.''

But he came with a little something extra -- and we're not talking the putter.

Sergio arrived at Las Colinas with a two-week-old beard.

"Some guys probably grow that in three days,'' he said drawing a laugh.

It started disappearing, and, by Saturday, it was nothing more than a bit of chin music -- for baseball fans -- or, perhaps, a fuzzy caterpillar attached to his chin.

"Yeah, it was just something different,'' Sergio said of the full Joe Pesci-as-Simon Wilder-in-With Honors beard. "Unfortunately, it looked better in the mirror than it looked on TV.

"For some reason."

He grinned and shrugged.

"Unfortunately, it's just not that full on the sides, and it just didn't look that great on the sides,'' he said. "So I decided to kind of shave it off and go with something that I've grown before.''

Sunday, he'll try to go back to his old ways, too. Thunderstorms are expected overnight, and that could soften the greens and open the way for a low number -- a 62 or a 63. And Sergio said his confidence -- try three birdies on the back nine Saturday -- is coming around.

"I think it's just building up,'' he said. "You know, funny enough, even though I missed the cut at The Masters, I felt like I hit the ball nicely. Unfortunately, the ball just didn't want to go in the hole, and nothing really happened for me there.''

After a good week of practice?

"I was looking forward to coming back and hopefully get some good momentum on my side,'' he said.

He got that. And, in the process, a shot at a second EDS Byron Nelson Championship title.