Scott struggling on the Sawgrass greens

Adam Scott, eight strokes from the halfway lead at the Players Championship, readily admitted he would have to find a quick fix for his putting woes to have any chance of winning the $A10.07 million event.

"I don't feel very comfortable on the greens," he said after carding a one-under-par 71 to slip eight strokes behind second round leader Kenny Perry in extremely strong winds at the Sawgrass TPC.

"My feel is gone. Yesterday I lost my speed in my stroke and I didn't really get it back. Some I'm smashing too hard, others I'm hitting too soft.

"That said, I made three really long putts today, which is nice, but I had three or four shorter chances and missed them all.

"It's hard work when you're missing opportunities, and yesterday was disgraceful."

Scott's problems began on the very first hole of the tournament, when he did not touch the hole with a birdie putt from inside one metre.

He has missed nearly half of his putts in the one-to-two-metre range, so it speaks volumes of the rest of his game that he had even a remote chance with two rounds left.

Stuart Appleby was the best Australian, six strokes off the pace after a rock solid 72, while Robert Allenby, Steve Elkington and Aaron Baddeley trailed by seven shots.

Nick O'Hern was the only other Australian to make the cut, nine strokes back.

Perry carded a steady 70 to set the pace at six-under 138, one stroke ahead of German Bernhard Langer, Spaniard Sergio Garcia and American Paul Goydos.

Langer had the day's best score, a magnificent 67 that included a bogey at the last.

At 50, the second oldest player in the field, he barely made it to the starting line due to injury, which makes his performance all the more impressive.

"I was a mess and contemplating withdrawing on Wednesday evening," said Langer, describing injuries to his back, groin, knee and shoulder.

"I thought if I can get through this, I might improve every day, and that's exactly what happened. I'm thrilled to be here, to be swinging, and with the score as well."

In the brutal conditions, with winds gusting to 50km/h, it was a day for the wily veterans, with three of the four frontrunners aged more than 40 - Garcia the odd man out.

"The way the course is playing now, with the firmer fairways and greens, distance is not everything," said Langer, twice a runner-up here.