Rare Conditions Open Door for Faxon, Zoeller : Golf: They lead the British Open by a stroke as hard fairways, soft greens and gentle winds produce lower scores.

As Brad Faxon happily recounted the details of a Saturday round that put him in a two-way tie for the British Open lead, there came across the Ailsa Course the sound of bagpipes.

Faxon heard nothing. He was too busy describing a three-under 67, which put him at nine-under 201 after three rounds, the same total as Fuzzy Zoeller’s. Then he talked about the drive he skulled off a spectator’s knapsack on No. 7, the one where he thought he killed somebody. Then he talked about his string of 41 bogey-less holes--in a major, no less. Then he talked about the last time he was this close to winning a major, which is never.

And that’s when you could hear the bagpipes at their clearest. There it was . . .

“Amazing Grace.”

Actually, the whole day was amazing. From Greg Norman’s fast start and slow fizzle, to Zoeller’s near-record 64, to Faxon’s unexpected run. The gentle winds off the Firth of Clyde, the rock hard fairways and the soft greens made for a day when par was cause for depression. Forty-two of the 81 players broke par Saturday, which explains why the average score on a course statistically ranked among the toughest on the rotation was 69.39. Forecasters call for a more sunny conditions today.

“Mother Nature has produced an easy course for us this year,” said Tom Watson, who began the day in the lead but ended it tied for second. “Very simply, it’s a golf course there for the taking.”

The greedy ones took advantage of every calm moment, knowing how quickly the weather can change here.

Faxon did his part, though it might come as something of a surprise. Two years removed from a skiing accident, Faxon’s reputation on the tour is simple enough: nice guy from Rhode Island . . . scrambler . . . low on style points.

So perhaps that’s why Faxon, 32, did a double-take when someone asked if it worked in his favor to enter today’s final round as a dark horse.

“Is it an advantage not having won a major?” an incredulous Faxon said. “Oh, big advantage.”

Faxon probably wishes he had Zoeller’s resume right about now. Zoeller, 42, who already has a Masters and U.S. Open championship, started at three under and didn’t stop until he was a birdie putt away on No. 18 from tying the British Open record for low round. He settled for a 64 and a share of the lead.

“I did things today that I hadn’t done for a long time,” Zoeller said.

Zoeller, who missed a 2 1/2-inch putt here in 1986 (“the shortest putt of my career”), had shot a 64 only one other time all year. And his previous low round in 12 years of British Opens was 66.

Truth is, Zoeller didn’t have a clue about his score. Someone yelled from the gallery at No. 17, “C’mon, Fuzzy, give us a 63!”

Zoeller didn’t hear a thing.

“Other days you can hear a guy tying his shoe out there,” he said.

It wasn’t until Zoeller walked into the scorer’s trailer, took pencil to card and then added up the numbers that he realized what he had done. He turned to playing partner David Feherty and said, “Did I shoot that?”

A shot behind Zoeller and Faxon were Watson (69), England’s Ronan Rafferty (65), defending PGA champion Nick Price (67) and Sweden’s Jesper Parnevik (68). At 203 were Feherty, followed by Mark James at 205 and 11 other players, including Craig Stadler, Larry Mize, Colin Montgomerie, Peter Jacobsen, Tom Kite and Davis Love III, at 206.

Watson could have been leading the tournament, but he had a self-described case of the putting “hiccups” on No. 14 and No. 16 that cost him pars.

“But I don’t dwell on that very much anymore,” he said. “I have a chance to win the British Open.”

Watson birdied the last two holes, which put him in a better mood. What would really make him happy is a new weather forecast.

“You want to know a secret? I wish the wind would blow about 40 miles per hour. But it’s not going to.”

That’s fine with most everyone else. Price wouldn’t mind a little wind, but wants it warm. Parnevik, who has been paired with Jack Nicklaus and Watson during the week, is happy simply to be here. The same goes for Rafferty, Feherty and the rest of them.

In fact, Feherty is happy to simply find his ball these days. So errant were his drives Saturday, that he hit a one-iron off the 18th tee “in an attempt to keep it in Scotland.”

Feherty had to qualify for this year’s Open.

“Like I’ve said, I’ve got nothing better to do,” he said.

Someone who could have done better is Norman. He had birdies at the first, third and ninth holes, ending the front nine with a 30-foot putt. But his chances of retaining his title faded at the bottom of a creek known as Wilson’s Burn.

After a front nine of 32, Norman was five under and two shots off the lead when he self-destructed at the par-four, 410-yard 16th hole called Wee Burn.

Norman pulled his drive into the left rough, then lofted a sand wedge that landed short of the elevated green. The ball stopped for a split second, then slowly rolled back down the slope and into the shallow burn that guards the green like a moat.

“I was playing for a little flyer and it came out soft,” Norman said. “I had 88 yards to the front end of the green and hit it about 85 yards.”

After taking a penalty drop, Norman left his chip at the back of the green and two-putted for a double-bogey six. He parred the final two holes for a round of 69 and a total of 207, six shots off the lead.