NEW ORLEANS -- Chris Couch has been on a wild ride ever since he got to the Big Easy, and going from worst-to-first in a wind-swept third round Saturday at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans was only part of it.

One day after closing with two tough pars to make the cut on the number, Couch piled up birdies in gusty conditions and zoomed up the leaderboard with an 8-under 64, signing his card 30 minutes before 36-hole leader Joe Durant teed off. The wind only got stronger, birdies became harder to find, and the day ended with Couch in the lead by himself.

How about that?

"I'm not sure I would have believed it," Couch said, who earned recognition as this week's AstraZeneca Charity Challenge winner for his standing as 54-hole leader.

He is at 12-under 204 and has a one-shot lead over Durant (73) and Charles Howell III, who also played early and shot 66.

Durant made only five pars. He fell four shots behind and into the middle of the pack, picked himself up with three straight birdies, had a gust knock a wedge into the water during a bogey on the 15th, and he finished with a 25-foot birdie that left him a good chance to win for the first time in five years.

Dean Wilson (66) and Cameron Beckman (67), both early starters, are at 10-under 206.

Masters champion Phil Mickelson figured he would need a 64 to get into the mix, and all it took was a 68 marred only by a bogey from the bunker on the 17th. He sits only three shots behind, along with six others.

The PGA TOUR did not have records of anyone who went from the cutline to the 54-hole lead.

Even more bizarre was how Couch's week started.

He drove to downtown New Orleans on Sunday night, had a few drinks, then got lost on a six-block walk to his car.

"I saw some girls, they looked normal and I thought I could get a ride from them," he said. "I jumped in the car with them. I really didn't like the situation, and it kind of got weird."

Couch asked to get out of the car, and they let him out in a section of town that didn't look familiar, except that he knew he needed to get out of there. He said another car pulled up and a man jumped out of the car and yelled, "What are you doing in this neighborhood?"

"I was scared in the part of town I was in," Couch said.

Couch took off his sandals and ran as fast as he could for 20 minutes, ducking into a tattoo parlor to call the police for help. Couch lost his cell phone during the ordeal, unsure if he left it in the car or it was taken from him. Contrary to rumors that were swirling around English Turn, he said he was not robbed of any money. But he declined to say what was weird about being in the car.

"I was just uncomfortable -- that's as plain as I can tell you," Couch said. "I didn't like the situation, and I didn't like where we were going."

Even more bothersome were the stories he heard during the week -- that he was held up in front of an ATM machine, that he was robbed leaving a casino and one tale that he had been kidnapped and taken to Mississippi.

"I've been kidnapped every night and I'm playing pretty well," Couch said with a laugh.

It was a scary situation, although Couch said he tried to forget about it once the tournament got under way, and "I was more upset about the bogey on 18 than anything that happened Sunday."

The rest of his round was superb. He holed two long birdie putts on the front nine and attacked other flags with wedges, and he reached the island green in two on the par-5 15th. The only blemish was hitting into the bunker on 18th for his lone bogey.

"I had no expectations going out there," Couch said. "I knew it was going to play tough. I never thought about how many under (par) I was. I just wanted to get as many under as I could to give myself a chance for tomorrow."

He was an inspiration to others who felt the blustery conditions and wondered if par would be a good score at English Turn, until they saw Couch playing as though he were at the Bob Hope Classic.

Chris Couch made the cut on the number in New Orleans. (Shamus/ WireImage)

"I think it was my third or fourth hole when I saw the board and Chris was 5 under through nine," Howell said. "It made me think, 'Well, maybe there is something out there."'

Howell found plenty of birdies, putting behind him his 80-84 experience at the Masters, giving himself an excellent chance to add another PGA TOUR victory to his lone title four years ago at the Michelob Championship, a tournament that no longer exists.

The wind at English Turn, which was gusting to 30 mph, moved Michael Allen's ball as he addressed a putt on the 15th. That turned par into bogey and sent him down the leaderboard. David Toms, the local star because of the money he raised for Hurricane Katrina victims, was one shot out of the lead until struggling in the wind and dropping three shots for a 72.

Still, he is among 19 players within four shots of the lead.

Divots: Phil Mickelson went with only one driver Saturday, although he had trouble making up his mind. First, he told caddie Jim Mackay that with the wind, he probably wouldn't need the fade driver. Mackay put that driver in the car, and brought back a wedge for the 14th club in the bag. Mickelson kept hooking his draw driver, then called over Mackay and told him to bring back the fade driver. He hit a few drives, then headed to the first tee. "Just my normal driver," Mickelson said later. "I took out my Augusta special." ... Carlos Franco made one of the better pars on No. 18. He sliced his tee shot so far to the right that he wound up in a bunker along the 16th fairway, with sky boxes in his way. Any relief meant he would have to drop in the bunker, which could have given him a plugged lie. So the two-time winner in New Orleans took it over the sky boxes just short of the green, and got up-and-down to finish off his 68.

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