Hill extends lead to four

Things finally returned to normal at Le Triomphe Golf & Country Club for Saturday’s third round of the $450,000 BUY.COM Louisiana Open.

The wind, all but nonexistent for the first two days, came bristling out of the southeast at 15-20 mph and toughened up a course that had yielded unusually low scores for the first 36 holes.

When the dust settled late in the day, second-round leader Guy Hill posted a 2-under-par 70 to increase his lead to four strokes.

Hill shared the lead after an opening 65 on Thursday and led by two after a second-round 67. Now he owns the largest 54-hole lead since Carl Paulson opened a five-shot bulge over the field at last year’s Utah Classic, which Paulson won by six.

"I am just worn out," said Hill, who hit only 4-of-13 fairways during his round. "You just had to grind it out and take what the course was willing to give you. If you lose your patience out there, especially on a day like today, you’re in a world of trouble."

Tom Kalinowski, who shot 67 Saturday, Robert Gamez (71), Brian Kamm (71), R. W. Eaks (72) and Rob McKelvey (72) are knotted at 10-under-par 206 -- chasing Hill and Sunday’s first-place check of $81,000. Tim Thelen (71) and Spike McRoy (73) are the only others within five shots of the leader.

Saturday’s steady winds pushed the scoring average to 72.10. The weekend field had played the 7,004-yard layout to an average of 69.45 the first two days.

"We were at the mercy of the wind today," said Hill. "It was switching, changing, gusting. It was really difficult to get a read on it."

Hill, who celebrated his two-week wedding anniversary Friday, looked like he was going to run away and hide when he birdied his first two holes to get to 14-under-par. His first reality check came on the difficult 201-yard third hole.

"I was between a full 5-iron and a knock-down 4. I hit the five," he said. Hill's tee shot found the water that guards the front of the green and he went on to make a double-bogey, bringing the field a little closer.

After finding the water on the par-5 seventh hole and making another bogey, Hill saved the day with a 4-iron to 18 feet on the par-3 eighth hole.

"That was big," he said of his birdie putt. "Instead of having to press, I got the bogey back on a tough hole. After that, I just took what the course would give me."

It gave him almost nothing and few chances. Hill did birdie the par-5 14th and then made a testing 10-footer at the 17th to further increase his lead.

"I’d rather have 10, but I still think it’s my tournament to lose. I don’t foresee someone shooting 64 or 65 in conditions like this tomorrow," he said.

Sunday’s forecast is for possible showers and thundershowers.

"I’m going to prepare for tomorrow just as I would for any other Sunday," Hill said. "I fully expect us to play. I’ll stay out until the wee hours or until it goes dark."

Among the biggest movers Saturday was Kalinowski, who started tied for 19th and matched the day’s best round with his 5-under-par 67.

"I figured anything in the 60s would put you within reach," said Kalinowski, who is No. 6 on the money list. "I really didn’t look at the board until No. 15 and saw I was somewhere near the top, but not exactly where."

Kalinowski, who tied for second at Lakeland and tied for third at Monterrey, could have been even better had he dropped a few more putts. He finished with 30 Saturday, after hitting 16 greens in regulation.

"I had a lot of opportunities from the 12-to-20 foot range," he said. "I just didn’t make anything of length today."

When he finished his round, Kalinowski was tied for sixth. But Kamm and Eaks both bogeyed the final hole to drop to 10-under. Then Gamez bogeyed No. 17 to fall into the pile and McKelvey, a former University of Louisiana-Lafayette standout, bogeyed No. 16 to join the logjam in second.

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