RICHMOND, Texas -- Matt Kuchar was all business Friday when he entered the media center and spoke of his motives at the Nationwide Tour Championship at The Houstonian.

After shooting a 6-under-par 66 that gave him a share of the 36-hole lead, Kuchar said he was playing in the season finale with only one thing in mind: winning.

Kuchar, 28, underlined that intention Saturday, following up his 66 with a 67 that threatened to squeeze every ounce of the suspense of the Nationwide Tour’s season finale.

“It sure was fun today,’’ said Kuchar, who will begin the fourth round with a three-shot lead over Boo Weekley.

Well, duh. Sixty-sevens are fun just about any old day. But on this Saturday, the 67 fun quotient was off the charts.

That’s because an ill and icy wind whistled out of the north by northwest, doing a 180-degree turn from what it had the first two rounds. It bewitched, bothered and bewildered the majority of the 59 players in this elite field, blowing scores sky high.

“I reckon the par was about 76 today,’’ Weekley said.

Weekley, the prominent resident of the tiny town of Jay in the Florida Panhandle, was far off in his reckoning. The average score Saturday was 74.6, more than four shots higher than it was Friday. That had many players mumbling expletives under their breath, considering that 2007 seasons are on the line this week when the final money is counted following Sunday’s fourth round.

“Sure the course was tougher, but it wasn’t that difficult,’’ said Craig Lile, who matched The Houstonian’s par of 72 and was tied for 12th at 3-under 213. “But it’s getting near the end of the year, right down to gut check time and I think that might have something to do with the scores.

“Yesterday I shot 69 and dropped down the leader board. When I looked at the end of my round I shot par and moved up 12 places. Following that logic maybe I can shoot 78 tomorrow and win.’’

That’s not likely with the way Kuchar is going. He stands at 13-under-par 203 with that comfortable cushion over Weekley. Andrew Buckle and Cliff Kresge, who shared the 36-hole lead with Kuchar and two others, are next at 207. It’s another shot back to another co-leader, Craig Kanada, while Johnson Wagner is alone in seventh at 208.

Saturday’s leaderboard is in stark contrast to what it was at the close of play Friday when 18 players were separated by three strokes. That’s some sort of separation that only a strong wind can provide. “If you play well on a day like today you can get that separation,’’ said Kuchar, who obviously did.

But the leader also admitted he got more than his share of breaks Saturday and he made a lot of his own by putting the eyes out of the cup. Kuchar needed only 25 putts Saturday, one less than he had Friday and the same number he used Thursday. It’s the one club in the bag that can make up for a lot of sins in the ball-striking department. So it’s no wonder that Kuchar, who is 35th in greens hit in regulation this week and the big No. 1 in putting.

Kuchar posted a 5-under 67 during the third round. (WireImage)

“You have to make a lot of putts when you shoot a low number,’’ said Kuchar, who recorded his third eagle of the tournament with a 30-footer on the par-5 fifth hole that was downwind, downhill and down grain. “That’s basically how good rounds go.’’

And when you top it off by chipping in from 40 feet on the 17th dinner tastes that much sweeter. Weekley was the only player to avoid a visit from the bogeyman. He did it, he said, by keeping “everything in front’’ of him despite not striking the ball with his usual crispness. He also got a boost from his putter. “I’ve been making some 10 and 12 footers the last two rounds,’’ said Weekley, who pitched in from 66 yards for an eagle on downwind par-4 sixth, chipped in for birdie from 30 feet on the eighth and holed a 12-footer for birdie on the 16th. “I was making them when I had to make them.’’

There is still much to be settled as the Nationwide Tour heads into its last roundup Sunday. The money title and Player of the Year honors are up for grabs as the final two or three PGA TOUR player cards that will be awarded to the Top 22 on the money list.

In an oddity, none of the players who began the tournament among the Top 22 would be displaced if the tournament had ended Saturday. That has happened twice previously in the first 16 years of the Nationwide Tour, in 1993 and 2002.

That also means a lot of players will be on pins and needles during the final round, regardless of whether that wind keeps whipping or not.

Kuchar, Weekley, Buckle, Kresge and Wagner are secure. Kanada is not.

“It should be somewhat interesting,’’ Weekley said.

That it should.