Blown away: Wind the winner Saturday at Arnold Palmer Invitational; Hatton leads by two

England’s Tyrrell Hatton birdied 18 to grab a two-stroke lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on a day when only one golfer broke par.

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ORLANDO – During the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, winds huffed and puffed out of the south sending scores ballooning at Bay Hill Lodge & Club.

Eight golfers failed to break 80, including four-time major champion Brooks Koepka, who shot the highest score of his career. Only Max Homa, who shot 2-under 70, managed to break par of the 69 players that made the cut. Need more proof that it was a day of carnage? For the first time in six years, not a single golfer shot in the 60s. The average score of 75.9 is the highest here since the second round in 1983.

“It’s just hard. There’s really no other way of explaining it,” said Rickie Fowler, who posted 77. “I think a lot of people are sitting at home saying what they would do out here, but I wouldn’t wish it on any average or normal player to go try and play what we did out there.”

England’s Tyrrell Hatton overcame a double-bogey at the ninth, which dropped him two strokes behind, to card three birdies and two bogeys on the incoming nine and shoot 1-over 73 to take a two-stroke lead over Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and Australia’s Marc Leishman, who are both former champions of this event.

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Hatton delivered an exclamation mark to his round by holing a 31-foot birdie putt at 18 and pumping his fist straight to the heavens.

“I don’t normally fist pump on a Saturday,” said Hatton, who signed for a 54-hole aggregate of 6-under 210. “I think it was more shock that the ball actually went in the hole and very relieved.”

Shell shock is more like what most of the field felt on a cool day when gusting winds dried out the greens and gave them a glassy shine.

“It was like putting on cement in your garage,” said Davis Love III, who has played in this event since 1986 and called it the toughest conditions he’s ever faced here.

“I’ve never seen it this windy three consecutive days,” said Harris English, who shot 74, and enters the final round among a quartet of players at 3-under 213. “Never seen the rough this high before.”

“It felt like a U.S. Open out there,” McIlroy said. “I’m trying to enjoy it as much as I can and as I said, just hanging around.”

Rory McIlroy walks off of the ninth green after lipping out his birdie putt during the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. (Photo: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports)

At one point in the round, the top 12 players on the leaderboard had played the 11th hole in 13 over. When the scoreboard at the ninth hole flashed the day’s “hot rounds,” Homa, who made double at 18 to shoot 70, was the only round under par and he remained alone. Leishman, who won here in 2017, added up his score after the round and said he did a double take.

“It felt like I shot a 65, not a 72,” Leishman said.

How brutal was it? Through seven holes, Graeme McDowell and fellow competitor Hideki Matsuyama had each made a double bogey and four bogeys.

“People are paying to watch this, you know?” said McDowell’s caddie Ken Comboy, and McDowell, who rallied for 76, wasn’t ruling 85 out after his start.

“That’s really unsettling in itself,” he said. “It’s scary when you’re trying to shoot 60 and it’s scary when 90 is in the equation as well. Each is equally terrifying.”

Among the big numbers: triples at Nos. 11 and 18 for Sung Kang, who led by two at the turn and finished trailing by five; an 8 at 13 for Sam Burns, who is part of a logjam at even; and a quintuple-bogey double-bogey finish for Ryan Moore, who shot 82, and is ahead of only Rob Oppenheim, who signed for the highest score of the day, an 83.

“It’s such a difficult day to avoid the old skidmark on the scorecard,” NBC’s David Feherty said.

Hatton was among the lone survivors. He said it felt like a summer day in Scotland and he was pleased that he packed his jumper. The 28-year-old counts four European Tour wins on his resume, but is still seeking his first triumph on the PGA Tour. He knows there is much work still to be done before he can enjoy hoisting a trophy and slipping into the winner’s red cardigan.

“There’s doubles and triples just around the corner, so that two-shot lead can go extremely quickly,” he said. “Just got to see what happens. It’s, 18 holes is a lot of golf, and I’m sure it will be interesting to watch tomorrow.”

It sure was interesting on Saturday, that is if you’re the type of fan that tunes into the Indy 500 for the crashes.

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