PERFORMANCE:
There is absolutely no performance difference in where the try/catch structures are placed. Internally, they are implemented as a code-range table in a structure that is created when the method is called. While the method is executing, the try/catch structures are completely out of the picture unless a throw occurs, then the location of the error is compared against the table.
Here’s a reference: http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-01-1997/jw-01-hood.html
The table is described about half-way down.