Winds tough on Bradley in third round

If a strong wind isn't enough to take you off your golf game, back-to-back double bogeys certainly will.
Moose Jaw's Ken Bradley had a rough, blustery start to Thursday's third round at the Canadian Senior Men's Golf Championship in Sault Ste Marie, Ont., but was able to right the ship enough to card an 80.
"I hit two poor tee shots and tried to recover from both of them and I just didn't do it," said Bradley, who is 15-over-par and tied for 31st for the first three days of the tournament. "One of them was behind a big tree and the other was stuck on a log I had to just chip out. I couldn't get it up and down, and I had two double bogeys."
He birdied the sixth hole, but missed a short par putt on the seventh and three-putted for bogey on the ninth. Bradley also had trouble at 15 again, a 369-yard par four on which he has yet to get less than bogey.
"I hit it in the sand today and the wind caught my second shot and knocked it right down," said Bradley. "I left it about 40 yards short of the green, chipped it up and missed the putt."
The wind, which was from the southeast and different than what it's been the last couple of days, was a factor on most of the holes as it blew through most of the day.
"The course was quite different in trying to play it," he said. "Some shots, if you tried to play them with the wind before, now you had to play them into the wind."
The wind also has an effect on club selection. On the 10th hole, he used his three wood off the tee and Thursday, he led off with his five iron.
"Both shots were in about the same place," he said.
The two men Bradley played with, Ontarians Alasdair Cayley and John Marlow, each shot 72 for the day in the rough conditions.
"Both of them could have been two or three under," said Bradley. "The golf course can be played, but it was just a learning experience for me to play it (Thursday) . . .
"You could tell they were good players."
Bradley isn't sure if their experience rubbed off enough to help turn those bogeys into pars.
"It would be nice, but it depends on the weather. It sounds like it might be rainy tomorrow with the wind, so that could be even worse," he said.

Corey Atkinson can be reached at 691-1260