By Dave Shedloski

Hutchinson, Kan. – The logo on the chest of Loren Roberts' shirt reads "Straight Down." Led by the record 8-under-par 62 Roberts fired Saturday at Prairie Dunes Golf Club, that's where scores were headed in the third round of the U.S. Senior Open.

Mornings rains, diminishing winds and a collection of kind hole locations transformed a Rubik's Cube of a championship layout into a child's jigsaw puzzle. Roberts may have tied the all-time U.S. Golf Association record for lowest 18-hole score, but he wasn't the only one who caught birdie fever. It was a veritable epidemic of red numbers striking the proud Prairie Dunes layout, which was left defenseless when its personal bodyguard, the wind, took the day off.

Jim Thorpe, who shot an early 65, predicted that his brethren would gobble up the breadcrumbs he left behind and follow his path to par-dition. In fact, his prescience was tantalizingly accurate. Here was Thorpe's assessment of how the day would stack up: "Scoring will be low today. I think today will be the lowest scoring of the championship. If the guys can keep the ball on the fairway today, the pins are setting up where they can go very low. I shot 65; I'm looking for somebody with a hot putter to go even lower because … the golf course is set up for scoring."

Well, let's break it down and see how the Crimson Tide rolled in.

Jim Thorpe, watch a knee-bending putt on No. 16 Saturday, started the scoring frenzy early. (Steve Gibbons/USGA)

Lowest round of the championship? Check. Among the 61 players who made the cut, 28 shot par or better Saturday and 16 were in the 60s on the par-70 layout. The field scoring average of 71.326 was almost three strokes better than round one and almost four shots lower than the second round when the gang shot blanks to the tune of 75.267.

Hole locations set up for scoring? Check. The holes were still cut on several edges, but other than 12 and 15, which were stationed on crowns, the flagsticks were accessible, especially with the short irons guys had in their hands and with the rains having taken the fire out of the golf course, especially the greens. Instead of hitting bump-and-run shots into the undulating surfaces, players flew high shots at the targets without fear of the wind grabbing them or the greens throwing them off.

"There were a lot of good pins in some flat spots," said Walter Hall. "If you hit it on the right side, you could have a good look at a birdie because the putt was relatively simple – but you had to be on that side."

Added Hubert Green: "It's a good golf course that was definitely there. It could be played, but you better know how to play it."

Well, they must be figuring it out. Hey, 13 gentlemen took 26 putts or fewer Saturday, as many as the first two rounds combined among the guys still playing.

Guy with the hot putter? Check. That would be Roberts with 24 Saturday. Fred Funk, who got back into contention with a 65, also needed just 24 putts – after taking 30 each of the first two days.

Andy Bean, who piled on with a 64, said, "It was a fun day; an easy day."

Ouch. That couldn't make championship officials or club members happy hearing that. But it certainly was easy, for all reasons previously mentioned, plus a few more. Like a few tee markers being moved forward, which made Prairie Dunes play shorter than its 6,646 yards, and green speeds being slowed to around 10-10 ½ on the Stimpmeter. Talk about a perfect storm of conditions for the kind of scoring for the Quaker State Open.

Gentlemen, start your engines.

"I think when you look at the psychology of an event like this, when the good players struggle the first two days … and then they see the low scores come in, it almost gives you a psychological boost," 2004 Senior Open champion Peter Jacobsen said. "You know it cane be done, and it almost takes the governor off."

Not almost. It did. And almost everyone enjoyed the ride – straight down.

Dave Shedloski is a freelance writer from Columbus, Ohio, whose work has appeared previously on www.ussernioropen.com.