Forsman Rides Out Winds of Change : San Diego Open: As gusts carry scores higher, he shoots par 72 to take two-stroke lead over Armour. More bad weather is expected today.

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 winds kicked up and so did the scores Saturday in the third round of the $900,000 Shearson Lehman Hutton Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course.

While it took a total of two-under par 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, drizzle and gusty winds.

Ten more managed par and one, Dan Forsman, was able to hold his game together and take a two-shot lead after three rounds.

Forsman’s 72 gave him a three-round total of 13-under 203, two strokes ahead of Tommy Armour III, who needed 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.”

Few of the changes in fortune were more dramatic than that of Bob Eastwood, who led Forsman by a stroke at the tournament’s 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.

Mark O’Meara, whose four victories at Pebble Beach Golf Links 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 nearby 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 to where if I shoot a good score (today) 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 players battled gusts of up to 25 m.p.h.

Complicating matters was the uncharacteristic southerly direction of the breeze. Usually the wind at Torrey Pines blows west off the ocean; the shift meant the players often found themselves in the unsettling position of playing with the wind at their backs on one hole and having to turn and face into it the next.

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

“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 after the conclusion of play and further rain is predicted today, along with wind and cool temperatures.

Such a forecast might normally worry Forsman, but his round Saturday might calm 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

Steve Pate, the 1988 champion from UCLA, and Mike Allen were both assessed two-stroke penalties after they hit each other’s ball on the 12th fairway.