PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- To get an idea why Rory Sabbatini is considered by many to be one of the most obnoxious, cocky dudes on the PGA Tour -- if not the outright leader in the clubhouse -- consider this telling anecdote from last week.

Rory Sabbatini is one cocky, or confident, dude. (Getty Images)

Paired last Sunday in the final group with PGA Tour top gun Tiger Woods, Sabbatini conducted a radio interview before the round in which he described their twosome as a "David and Goliath" affair, laughably describing Woods as the underdog, sling-shotting pebbles at big, bad Sabbatini. He claims he was being sarcastic, not bombastic, though few can tell the difference.

His life is one huge lip-out.

"Trust me, it drives my wife nuts," Sabbatini said. "I probably kid 99 percent of the time. Maybe that's why people don't understand me, because it's a dry sense of humor."

Lately, he has earned the right to be downright brash.

After playing in the spotlight alongside Woods last weekend in Charlotte, Sabbatini is tied for the lead with megastar Phil Mickelson after the first round of The Players Championship, where the South African shot a 5-under 67 Thursday and seems bent on collecting his fourth consecutive top-three finish.

A month ago, Sabbatini finished in a tie for second with Woods at the Masters. Last weekend, Sabbatini held a one-shot lead over Woods entering the final round of the Wachovia Championship. On the eve of the final round, Sabbatini issued a thinly veiled challenge to the world No. 1. He still isn't backing off, even after Woods spanked him by five strokes head-to-head last weekend.

"A lot of people have commented that when people play with Tiger, they stand and watch the show and don't participate," Sabbatini said. "I'm not there to watch the show, I'm there to participate, to win. I want to be paired with Tiger in the last group on Sunday here this week, too."

Call him confident or cocky, but the native South African, who attended college at Arizona and has lived in the States ever since, has often rubbed folks the wrong way. His cynicism and swagger -- being charitably listed at 5-feet-10 makes him look like a textbook Napolean Complex case -- are frequently misunderstood.

"He's very confident, there is no doubt about that," said Chris DiMarco, who is a shot back after an opening 68. "Sometimes, if you are truthful, the truth hurts and the truth will stab you in the back. I think he means well but says things that maybe come out the wrong way."

At times, his words cannot possibly be misconstrued. Having just been drubbed by Woods last week, Sabbatini was again playing with matches near the powder keg at TPC Sawgrass.

"The funny thing is, after watching him play on Sunday, I think he's more beatable than ever," he said.

Sabbatini has a point, actually, since Woods matched the highest round of his career at Sawgrass with a sloppy 75 that left him eight shots back and in danger of missing the Friday cut. But tugging on Superman's cape, even though Thursday's round marked the first time in four years that Woods didn't muster a single birdie or eagle, is rarely a great idea.

The Sabbatini clan not only courts controversy, they French-kiss it. The 31-year-old's wife, Amy, is no shrinking violet, either. She has been known to dress provocatively, sit in the back of the press room during his interviews and make curious, unsolicited comments. Last year at The Players Championship, when her husband grew frustrated by the slowness of playing partner Nick Faldo, she showed up the next day with a custom-made T-shirt reading, "Keep Up!"

Faldo, now a network broadcaster, had a flippant field day.

"It is very embarrassing for them to bring their sexual problems to the golf course," Faldo deadpanned. "Poor fellow, he's got enough problems without her announcing it to the world."

It hardly drove Amy underground, either. She arrived for the final round at the Wachovia wearing black, patent-leather, knee-high go-go boots and a flashy bandana on her head, and dutifully followed her hubbie around the course. The conservative crowd in Charlotte was abuzz, since, on the increasingly vanilla tour, the pair stands out like a carton of nutty Rocky Road.

In the media guide, Rory jokingly listed one of his hobbies as "becoming a Texan," and he's well on his way, since the Dallas resident's chrome belt buckles look like something a rodeo champion would wear. Just last week on the driving range at Wachovia, Amy showed up with a new belt a few moments before the final round. Its oversized buckle featured a pair of chrome, diamond-studded wings with a human skull in the middle, which Rory slipped on between warmup shots. He has another bejeweled buckle emblazoned with the Superman logo in the middle, which some believe befits his oversized ego.

"I am a little different than everyone else," said Sabbatini, who has three tour victories. "Why not have some fun out there?"

Who knew they allowed frivolity on the tour? Apparently not his mates. In a players poll published this week by Sports Illustrated, Sabbatini was voted as the man with whom they would least like to be paired, by a whopping 18 percentage points over Mickelson, the co-runner-up. On a tour with roughly 200 players, Sabbatini got a whopping 25 percent of the vote.

Obviously, if Sabbatini is cracking wise, not everybody is getting the joke.

"I don't know 25 percent of the players on tour, and there is probably 25 percent I wouldn't want to play with," he said. "You can pick your battles, but I'm not out here to make friends, I'm out here to win tournaments."