Playing over at the La Quinta Country Club, Mark Wilson was taking the outright lead of the tournament. Through 15 holes on Saturday, he was 5 under for the day and 21 under for the tournament, 3 shots better than Ben Crane and 4 better than Zach Johnson.
I played eight holes with basically no wind, and then I was on number 18 tee when it started blowing, said Wilson, who started his round on the 10th hole.
The par-3 third hole was probably the wildest. I had no idea what club to hit and I was between 4-iron, 3-iron, 2-iron, all different clubs, and I hit a good shot up around the green. It went 30 yards over just because the wind took it. I went from the mentality of making birdies to just making solid pars when I could.
Over at the Nicklaus course, the wind was about the only thing that could slow down Robert Garrigus, who had nine birdies through 13 holes before play was stopped. Garrigus is 5 shots back of Wilson at 16 under par.
Its too early to say if all 72 holes will be completed by Sunday evening, with several groups still with nine or more holes to play of their third rounds. Though the weather forecast is good, the tour isnt ruling out a Monday finish.
When play for the day was finally called at 2:50 pm PT, Clinton signed more autographs and thanked fans for coming out before leaving PGA West. On Friday, he said that he was committed to coming back to the tournament every year, and that he wanted to get the players more involved in the Health Matters conference that precedes the event.
Hopefully, the worlds problems can allow him freedom to work on his game so hell hit better shots in next years tournament and wow us with not just his charm, but also the substance of his golf.
Farrell Evans covers golf for ESPN and can be contacted at evans.espn@gmail.com.