Forsman Rides Out the Wind : Golf: As gusts carry scores higher, he shoots par 72 to take two-shot lead over Armour. More bad weather expected for today’s final round.

What nature gave away the first two rounds, she took back with a fury Saturday.

After two days of sunny, cool and relatively calm conditions, the wind kicked up and took the scores with it Saturday in the third round of the $900,000 Shearson Lehman Hutton Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course.

While it took two under par just to make the 36-hole cut Friday, only eight of 87 players broke par 72 on the South Course on a day of cloudy skies, some drizzle and plenty of wind.

Ten more golfers managed par, and one of them, Dan Forsman, was able to hold his game together enough to take a two-shot lead.

Forsman’s 72 left him at 13-under 203, two ahead of Tommy Armour III, who made birdies on two of the final four holes to salvage a 73.

“I was very pleased to get around in par,” said Forsman, who finished 99th on the 1989 money list. “I’m not the best wind player. I went into the day a little bit uneasy. I woke up a couple times in my hotel room and heard the wind blowing outside. I didn’t sleep well after that.

“This round wasn’t fun; it was a survival test.”

At least Forsman was able to find a way to stay even in what were taxing conditions for golf. Because, after two days of easy scoring, most players found their scores going the other way. Few of the reversals were more costly than that which befell Bob Eastwood, who led Forsman by a stroke at the tournament halfway mark.

Eastwood, who set a Torrey Pines’ 36-hole record of 130, shot a 40 on the front nine and finished with a four-over 76, leaving him alone in third place, three strokes behind Forsman, at 206.

“It was very difficult to do anything out there,” Eastwood said. “You just tried to hold your balance and make a good solid golf shot. And I didn’t hit too many good golf shots.”

But not everyone cursed the shift in weather conditions. For a few, the change in weather brought a change in fortune.

Mark O’Meara, whose four victories at Pebble Beach Golf Links (three as a tour member) attest to his seaside course abilities, shot a low-round 67. That moved him into a tie for fourth at 207 with Craig Stadler, who had one of four 70s in the round. O’Meara, who started Saturday in a tie for 32nd, 10 strokes behind leader Eastwood, opens today four behind Forsman.

“I loved it, and I’m not saying that because I hit 67,” said O’Meara, a resident of Escondido. “I told my caddy going down the first hole that these are absolutely perfect conditions. I was so far behind the leader to start the day, the only chance I had was to shoot a 66-65, regardless of what the weather was like.

“As soon as I saw the weather, I knew if I shot two or three under, that would put me in position where if I shoot a good score (Sunday) I have a chance to win.”

The conditions on the front nine were especially tricky. With most of the holes sitting atop exposed ocean cliff, the wind blew without a break in gusts up to 25 m.p.h. Complicating matters further were the gusts’ uncharacteristic southerly direction. Usually the wind at Torrey Pines blows off the ocean; the shift meant the players often found themselves in the unsettling position of playing with the wind at their backs one hole and in their faces the next.

It made for a day of 370-yard drives with the wind, like the one that left Forsman a sand wedge second shot on the 499-yard, par-five 18th. Contrast that with the three-iron into the wind O’Meara hit on the 404-yard fifth that travelled only 140 yards. Strangely, both made birdie, as Forsman routinely two-putted and O’Meara holed an 80-foot pitch.

“I had a good break because I was just short of the bunker,” O’Meara said. “I chipped it, but I had too much speed. It hit the pin in the middle and went in; that set the tone for the day.

“It was very demanding out there, very trying. You have to have a lot of patience. You have to realize that par is a good score.”

The same could be true today, as conditions for the final round might be worse. A steady rain began to fall shortly after play concluded, and more rain is predicted, along with wind, cool temperatures and overcast skies.

That normally might send Forsman into a pre-round worry, but his round Saturday calmed his nerves.

“This round goes a long way to showing me I can play in the wind,” Forsman said. “That is something I needed.”

And something he might need again.

Tournament Notes

Nowhere was the effect of the wind more clear-cut than in the driving distance statistics kept by the PGA Tour. Two holes were designated Saturday--the fourth and the ninth. The 447-yard fourth played with the wind at the players’ backs, and it produced some prodigious drives. Duffy Waldorf had the longest one at 363 yards, one yard better than Bill Sander. . . . Driving into the wind on the 537-yard ninth, Waldorf managed 235, Sander 254. . . . Steve Pate, the 1988 champion from UCLA, and Mike Allen were both assessed a two-stroke penalty after they hit each other’s balls on the 12th fairway. Neither realized his error until Pate had putted out, said their playing partner, Craig Stadler. Pate and Allen had to replay their second shots. Pate wound up with a triple-bogey seven and Allen a six.