Gusto amid gusts

Wind no problem to shot-maker Weir

Vijay Singh lifted his ball - and a lot of sand - out of this fairway bunker on No. 7. Singh carded a 2-under-par 69 on the day. (Travis Dove/For the Globe)

NORTON - It came from the northwest, not with a ferocity, but a distinctive presence, and what it delivered to the Deutsche Bank Championship in yesterday's third round was a change of complexion.

Wind. It's the No. 1 defense shield for any golf course and when it arrives, even at 10-15 miles per hour like yesterday, it changes thought processes and allows doubt to creep into the equation.

"It was hard to pick up what the wind was doing," said Mike Weir, who shot 67 to push his lead to 17-under 196.

Surely, it was not difficult to see the effect it was having, because after two days of carefree, take-aim, and let-it-rip golf led to mind-boggling low numbers, a semblance of order returned to the festivities. Yes, good scores were available - proof positive, Camilo Villegas's 8-under 63 that got him within one of the leader, while Sergio Garcia (68) and Vijay Singh (69) went under par to get within three - but you had to work some great skill to get them, which is all players ever ask for.

"You've got to play quality golf," said Ernie Els, one of those who did, a 25-foot eagle roll at the par-5 18th giving him a 69 to sit at 13-under 200 where he was joined by Jim Furyk (69) and Ben Crane (63), all of them tied for fifth and four back.

The flip side is, not everyone could, because unlike Friday's opening round and Saturday's second, when a stagnant air lent not a lick of defense, TPC Boston was able to fight back thanks to the swirling winds buffeting the tree-line fairways.

That is why the field average was more than two strokes higher yesterday (70.826) than it had been in Round 2 (68.473), and for further consideration, whereas there were 28 bogey-free rounds Friday and Saturday, there were but three in Round 3.

But nowhere did the testing northwest wind show its face more than in the degrees of separation between players in the same group.

Villegas and Eric Axley? They began the day tied for 22d at 8 under, but while Villegas employed superb ball-striking to leapfrog 20 players, the lefthanded Axley became the first player in the championship to play a birdieless round and with an 80 he tumbled into a tie for 82d and missed the secondary cut.

Weir and Tim Clark? They had the final pairing, Clark sitting one ahead of Weir, but while the South African Clark could manage the wind to hit just three greens coming home and thus shot 73 -201 to fall into a tie for eighth, the Canadian resumed the lead with an extraordinary wedge game and definitive distance control.

Singh and Ben Curtis? Joined at 12 under and two off the lead at the start, they went in different directions because one solved swirling winds and the other didn't. Singh, the 2004 champion here, struck it nearly flawlessly (15 of 18 greens) to keep within three, while Curtis misplayed the wind on an approach into the par-4 10th, took a penalty drop, then took another when he mishit a shot into the breeze and landed in wetlands short of the 12th green.

Same conditions, far different results.

It's the glory of wind.

"The wind was gusting all day," said Crane, whose 63 allowed him to hurdle 40 players and pull within four of the lead. "There were times you'd see the flags blowing, but you wouldn't feel the wind. It was a test of patience."

No surprise that a man who matched Crane's score would echo that sentiment, because Villegas credited the work he and his caddie did against the first visit of the week by wind. "It was a little tricky," said Villegas, who had one of the three bogey-free rounds and drove it beautifully (11 of 14 fairways). "It was pretty much sideways on every hole."

That is why the number of eagles fell to just 10, one day after 24 were recorded, and it's why 22 players shot 73 or higher, when only 18 had done so over the previous two days.

Nowhere, perhaps, was the wind any more chaotic than at the hole that ranks hardest, the 495-yard, par-4 dogleg left 14th. Given a relatively generous fairway, players are asked to navigate downhill second shots into a green that, when firm, is anything but overly receptive. While 67 percent of the field drove it into the fairway, only 47 percent hit the green in regulation, and that includes five of the eight players in the final four pairings.

No surprise given his position in front, but Weir handled the task with a savvy that helps explain why he's won a Masters and seven other tournaments on the PGA Tour. He had 199 yards, a nice wind at his back, and a good grasp of not only his iron, but the importance of distance control given the firmness of the green.

"I just told myself, 'Let's just hit a good, hard 7-iron and try to land it 7 to 10 paces on the green and hopefully it'll just skip back there,' " said Weir, who followed the instructions splendidly.

On an approach shot that Bubba Watson had hit long and into the woods for a double bogey . . . and one on which Adam Scott had gone long and beneath an evacuation van that had to be moved so the ball could be played . . . and one Els and Kevin Streelman and Curtis and Singh and Clark also missed too deep . . . well, it's where the Canadian showed his stuff. His shot landed at the front of the green, rolled within 3 feet, and when he made the putt for just one of eight birdies at the 14th, he was 16 under, tied with Villegas.

"I had a nice number," said Weir, who was referring to the 199 yards, not the 16 under, which is just as well because his score soon changed. His bogey at the par-4 17th negated the chip-in birdie at the 16th, but when he birdied the 18th, the lefthander regained the one-stroke cushion.

He also added even more international flavor and high world rankings to the leaderboard. There are, after all, six nations represented by the top seven names, four of whom are ranked within the top 15 - Garcia, fourth; Singh, fifth; Els, eighth; and Furyk, 13th.

"People have asked me for two days, did I mind the low scores," said Seth Waugh, the CEO of Deutsche Bank and the overseer of this sixth-year event. "I don't think so. As long as you have a great leaderboard, it's fun."

What will add to the fun, said Els, is a return visit by yesterday's guest star.

"If we can have conditions the same tomorrow, I think we can have guys like myself trying to chase," said the big South African. "It'll help if the wind gets up."

So long as you play quality golf, that is.