(REUTERS) - American golfers Billy Horschel and Talor Gooch scuffled their way to the top of the leaderboard at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Saturday (March 5), on a day the players were seeing red - on their scorecards.
Windy conditions - including gusts of up to 25mph (41kmh) - wreaked havoc on the course at Bay Hill in Orlando, Florida.
Gooch fought off four bogeys en route to an even-par 72 while Horschel endured three bogeys for a one-under 71. The pair sit atop the leaderboard at seven-under 209.
"It was a grind out there," the 30-year-old Gooch said. "The place was playing super, super difficult. The wind was whipping, and it was changing directions. When you have to be as precise as you have to be on this golf course, the little wind changes make a huge difference. If you'd have told me I wasn't going to shoot over par and I didn't have to play, I would have taken it and not touched a club today."
Halfway leader Viktor Hovland suffered through six bogeys and carded a 75 to fall to solo third, one shot back.
American Scottie Scheffler shrugged off three consecutive bogeys on the front nine to shoot a third-round best 68. He jumped up 16 places on the leaderboard to sit alone in fourth spot at five under, two shots back.
"I didn't really feel out of it at the beginning of the day," the 25-year-old said.
Gary Woodland shot 70 and is three strokes back at four under.
Norwegian Hovland holed out a chip on the par-five sixth for an eagle, but that was the only highlight for him after opening rounds of 69 and 66.
"I think now it's maybe on the border where everything kind of becomes a scrambling competition. As I've said before, that's not really the strength of my game," the world No. 4 said.
"But what I think is cool at least is I'm able to be in contention in a tournament under these conditions that don't really play into my hands. I feel like I have to really be patient and miss on the right sides."
The 24-year-old will be aiming to do better on Sunday to banish memories of 2021, when he was 11 over in weekend play after reaching seven under at the halfway mark.
Three players are tied for sixth at three under, four shots back - Graeme McDowell (69), Rory McIlroy (76) and Chris Kirk, who shot the other 68 for the day. Kirk rebounded from a second-round 76 to vault 33 spots up the leaderboard thanks to an eagle and three birdies against just one bogey.
Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau is sitting out this year's competition as he continues to recover from wrist and hip injuries.
