Bhatia’s big birdie runs helps him beat the wind and lead at Pebble Beach

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Akshay Bhatia played Pebble Beach by the book in accommodating weather with such a blistering start that he threatened to run away with the tournament by building a five-shot lead at the turn.

But then a cool day turned into a cold one, more spectators holding coffee cups than beer cans. One of the prettiest coastal courses on earth showed a nasty side Saturday in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, and Bhatia did all he could to get across the finish line with a 4-under 68 and a two-shot lead.

“All in all, yeah, weird day,” Bhatia said. “Felt like I lost some ground toward the end, but then I realized it just played so much harder for some of the guys that were in some of the last tee times.”

And the worst might be yet to come.

Bhatia did enough early with six birdies in seven holes at the start of his round that even going the last 11 holes with two bogeys and no birdies didn’t cost him the lead.

Starting times were moved up one hour for the final round with a forecast of big wind and rain, a time for players to hang on by the seat of their rain pants.

Low scores were still available. Collin Morikawa, the two-time major champion trying to end more than two years without a victory, had 11 birdies in his round of 62 ...