GOLF PEBBLE BEACH TOURNAMENT : Strong Winds Unleash Fury Upon Leaders

Rocco Mediate came through the wind tunnel on the finishing holes of Cypress Point Saturday battered--but surprisingly happy.

Mediate, who shared the 36-hole lead Friday in the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am with Payne Stewart and Bob Gilder, shot a one-over-par 73, but remains in contention despite three bogeys on his finishing holes.

The 27-year-old pro, who has yet to win a tour event, is one shot behind Mark O’Meara, the defending champion, who had an outstanding round of 69 at Cypress for a 54-hole total of seven-under-par 209. That was a remarkable score considering playing conditions.

Wind gusts estimated at 40 m.p.h. got so strong late in the day, play had to be suspended at Cypress Point, where four groups were left on the course. Balls wouldn’t sit still on the greens because of the strong winds. Those players will conclude their rounds this morning before the final round gets under way.

Gilder, who said earlier that Cypress was the least favorite of the three courses used in the tournament, realized his worst fears.

He shot an 85 (43-42) and, after finishing, said “I’d just as soon not talk right now.”

Stewart had a two-over-par 74 at Pebble Beach. However, he’s at 211 and only two shots behind O’Meara.

“The last four holes at Cypress were the hardest holes I’ve ever played in my life. That sums it up,” said Mediate, who is in his fifth year on the tour.

“Basically, it was the best round I’ve ever played in my life considering the conditions.”

O’Meara, who also won here in 1985, said his 69 was one of the best rounds he has ever had on the Monterey Peninsula.

He estimated that the wind was gusting about 30 m.p.h. when he came through the demanding finishing holes: the 231-yard, par-3 16th with a carry over the ocean; the 393-yard, par-4 17th and the 346-yard 18th hole that is downwind.

O’Meara was in the first group teeing off at Cypress from the 10th hole. When Mediate got to the 16th later he said the wind was blowing about 40 m.p.h.

Usually, when a player finishes bogey-bogey-bogey, he is distraught. Not Mediate, the stocky pro who grew up in Greensburg, Pa., and plays occasionally with Arnold Palmer.

“I weigh 215 pounds and it’s hard to move me,” Mediate said, “but the wind was blowing me all over the place.”

Mediate was nine under par for the tournament and two under for the day when he approached the 16th, rated as the fourth most difficult hole on the PGA Tour.

“I said to myself, ‘You’ve worked so hard to get this far, why throw it away on one hole?’ ” Mediate reasoned.

So instead of going for the green, over the ocean and the angry whitecaps, he took a two-iron and went for the layup area to the left of the green.

“I hit it as hard as I could and the ball went dead sideways,” he said. He landed 25 yards short, pitched to eight feet and missed the putt.

“I was happy to get my four,” he said.

Mediate said he hit a perfect drive on the par-4 17th hole that he had previously said owed him a debt. He took an eight on the hole last year and had never scored better than six on the hole.

He then selected a two-iron and the wind blew him away from the ball. He hit it in the trees and wedged into the fairway.

“Then, I said to my caddie, ‘Not that it matters, but how far do I have to go?’ ”

He was informed that he was 107 yards to the flag.

“I hit a five-iron as hard and low as I could hit it and it went pin-high and 12 feet behind the hole,” Mediate said.

He made the putt for his bogey five and said it felt like he had made a two.

“It was the most unbelievable hole I’ve seen in my life,” Mediate said.

At 18, with the wind behind him, he hit a six-iron off the tee and he estimated that it went 250 yards. He was short with a pitching wedge and wound up with a bogey at the par-4 hole.

The ordeal was finally over, but not for some others who followed Mediate.

Lon Hinkle got a 13 at No. 17, Jeff Goodwin had an 11 and Sam Ross a 10. And then Ed Dougherty topped them all with a 14. He birdied the last hole, though, to salvage an 88, shooting a 49 on the back nine.

It was that kind of day.

There was also a report that the Goodyear blimp with all of its engines going, was blown backward and was grounded for the day.

O’Meara’s round, therefore, was all the more remarkable. He had an eagle on the par-5, 518-yard sixth hole with a four-wood approach shot and 25-foot putt. He also had three birdies to go along with two bogeys.

The former Cal State Long Beach golfer said any of the courses--Cypress, Spyglass Hill and Pebble Beach--can be difficult if the wind is blowing as it did Saturday.

“Danger is lurking at almost every hole out there,” he said.

Golf Notes

The weather forecast is a 30% chance for rain today. It was raining steadily Saturday night. . . . Tom Kite, Kenny Perry and Dave Eichelberger were at 213, four shots behind the leader, Mark O’Meara. Kite shot a 75 at Pebble Beach. . . . Payne Stewart wasn’t disturbed about his 74. “I didn’t shoot myself out of the tournament, that’s for sure,” he said. “If we get weather like today, it’s hard to say what it will take to win the golf tournament. I’ve played here when the wind conditions were worse. If it’s raining and blowing like this, 72 would be a hell of a round.” . . . Jim Thorpe, who was only one shot off the lead Friday, had an 83 (221) Saturday at Pebble Beach. Jack Nicklaus is also at 221, shooting a 78 at Pebble.