ORLANDO, Fla. — The wind was up at Bay Hill on Saturday and so were the scores and players’ blood pressure.

By day’s end, the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational set up what figures to be an anything-goes shootout in the final round Sunday, with at least a dozen players having a chance to win the coveted Palmer signature cardigan sweater that comes with victory — along with $2 million.

“A lot of guys are in this, but it’s typically what you see whenever a setup is like this,’’ Rory McIlroy said of the treacherous course conditions at Bay Hill.

“Anything can happen,’’ Talor Gooch said. “It’s easy for the guys that are in the lead or near the lead to go shoot 5-, 6-over. This course will expose you really quick. I don’t know how many guys are under par [16 players], but if you’re under par, I think you’ve got a chance.’’

For a while, it looked as if 36-hole leader Viktor Hovland might run away and hide. At one point, he got to 10-under for the tournament as he walked to the 11th tee with a four-shot lead.

But the conditions would not allow a runaway by the 24-year-old from Norway.

Hovland retreated back to the pack with bogeys on Nos. 11, 14, 17 and 18 to fall back to 6-under, which left him trailing Gooch and Billy Horschel, who share the lead at 7-under, by one shot.

Hovland, who last year shot 77-78 on the weekend after shooting 69-68 in the opening 36 holes, shot 75 on Saturday.

“At least I managed to kind of stay in it,’’ Hovland said. “That’s kind of the only positive for today.’’

Horschel, a Florida native who has been hanging around on the leaderboard all week, shot an impressive 1-under 71. Gooch shot even-par 72.

“It would be very special,’’ Horschel said of a win here. “I grew up an hour from here, came here as a kid, caddied in the Pro-Am multiple times. I have a lot of family and friend support around here. Then you add on Arnold Palmer’s name to it.

“I’ve got to do a really good job of controlling my emotions more and not getting ahead of myself. The goal is just try to enjoy the process [Sunday], enjoy what [Sunday] is going to be about. I’m excited about what [Sunday] is going to have in store.’’

Scottie Scheffler, who shot the low round of the breezy day at 4-under 68 to get to 5-under, trails the leaders by two. Gary Woodland, the 2019 U.S. Open champion who hasn’t been heard from much since his magical week at Pebble Beach, shot 70 and moved up the board to 4-under, three shots out of the lead.

McIlroy, who has been near the top of the leaderboard all tournament, had a poor day, shooting 76 to fall to 3-under. He’s tied for sixth with Graeme McDowell (69) and Chris Kirk (68).

Like Hovland, McIlroy has endured some weekend woes at Bay Hill. In 2020, he entered the third round at 5-under and shot 73-76 on the weekend to finish in a tie for fifth. Last year, he was 7-under entering the third round and shot 72-76 on the weekend to fall to a tie for 10th.

“Look, it’s so tough out there, it’s so tricky,’’ McIlroy said. “It’s just on a knife edge, like you’re literally talking like two feet here, two feet there from 200 yards can make a huge difference in where the ball ends up. The course obviously just sort of turned a little bit — especially with the crosswinds. If you don’t hit the fairway, it’s almost impossible to hit a green.

“I don’t want to say anything that I’m going to regret, but it’s … I guess … the last few years, we sort of know what to expect coming here. It just seems to be this way over the weekend. It’s just hard. It’s hard not to get frustrated.’’

Max Homa carded a hole-in-one on the 14th hole Saturday, his first ace on the PGA Tour and, he estimated, the eighth of his life. It came off a pitching wedge from 163 yards away.

“That was crazy,’’ Homa said. “The roar [from the crowd] was awesome. That’s one I won’t forget.”

John Pak, from Scotch Plains, N.J., shot 75 and is 6-over for the week. He plays most of his tournaments on the Korn Ferry Tour. … Matt Jones, from Australia, flung his putter into a lake on the 11th hole after missing a putt. Asked after his round if he would talk about caused him to do it, Jones, never breaking stride as he walked past two reporters, said, “Nope.’’