The bent flagpoles told the story at the third round of the Zurich Classic on Saturday.
Strong winds buffeted the TPC Louisiana golf course, wreaking havoc on the golfers throughout the day.
Sustained southeasterly winds of 15 to 20 miles per hour with gusts of up to 30 mph forced golfers to alter their club selections and adjust strategy, often from hole to hole as the day progressed and the conditions worsened.
“It seemed like it was a two-club wind, two-, three-club wind at times,” said Patrick Fishburn, who teamed with Zac Blair for a 12-under-par score of 60 on the day. “It played really tricky, for sure.”
The average score from the 40 two-man teams during the third round was 64.825, down slightly from the average of 65.313 during Thursday’s first round, which featured 80 teams.
“The wind was tricky so there was a lot of holes where par was a good score,” said Nick Taylor, who teamed with Adam Hadwin for a round of 8-under-par 64. “It was a little trickier to hit fairways today, and this course is tough to get at the greens, judging the lies out of the rough and not being able to control your spin in the wind.
"We saw today there was a lot of holes where we got a bit out of position on holes that were pretty easy the first couple days, and we were grinding for pars.”
The wind gusts were so strong at times, Ryan Brehm said he saw his ball get blown off line during putts.
“I had to back off a few shots, because you're in there ready to go and you get a big gust and you feel like you're going to fall over,” said Mark Hubbard, Brehm’s teammate. “It's a factor on every shot pretty much.”
Similar conditions are expected Sunday, with winds in the 20-30 mph range and temperatures in the low-80s.
Back in the hunt
The Canadian team of Hadwin and Taylor shot a 64 Saturday to put themselves in contention for the title for the second consecutive year.
Hadwin and Taylor, who finished two strokes back in second last year, are just three strokes off the lead after carding a bogey-free round of 8 under. The tandem birdied four holes on each nine to put themselves in striking distance entering the final round of alternate-shot play.
Hadwin had the highlight of the round with a 40-foot birdie putt on No. 9.
“I think we're still in a strong position going into Sunday,” Hadwin said. “I think the alternate shot suits our games, as well. I don't know how far back we were last year, we were quite a bit and made a charge. So I think the way both of us played today, I think we're confident for tomorrow.”
Flock of Eagles
Luke List and Henrik Norlander are one shot off the lead thanks largely to a pair of eagles on Nos. 2 and 11.
Norlander rolled in a 35-foot putt from about 10 feet off the green for the eagle on No. 11. List scored the eagle on No. 2 with a long putt.
“Henrik was in good shape on (No.) 2 with a great birdie, so it kind of freed me up and I had a great read there, poured it in,” List said. “(On 11), I had a good look, which probably freed him up a little bit too there, and that's the key is the ability to put yourself in a position where your partner can be freed up, and I think we did a really good job of that today."