Sandwich, England ? Amid the 30 mph winds and horizontal rainstorms that wreaked havoc at Royal St. George’s on Saturday, one man with nearly 40 years of links experience stood tall.

Playing with a smile that never left his face, Tom Watson reveled in the kind of fierce weather conditions that brought many of the early starters to their knees in a wet and wild third round at the British Open.

Watson’s 2-over 72 wasn’t the lowest score of the day, but it may have been the most impressive.

“You know, if we had weather like we had this morning the entire tournament, I don’t know who’s going to beat him,” Phil Mickelson said.

“He played in the worst of it, and I think he shot about as well as anybody did.”

Jason Day said Saturday had been his toughest day in golf. Edoardo Molinari described the conditions as “a joke.”

Watson merely called them “bothersome.”

“The challenge of dealing with conditions on a course like this is, it’s fun,” said the 61-year-old American.

“I kind of liked that forecast yesterday, when it said it was going to get nasty out there. It worked out well for me today.”