Matt Kuchar leads by two as he looks for win No. 2 on the new season.

Aloha.

Emergency 9

Here are nine tidbits from Round 3 of the Sony Open in Hawaii that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Waialae Country Club in Honolulu plays 7,044 yards to Par-70 and has hosted this event since 1965.

Closing Time

Matt Kuchar leads by two as he shoved his way to the front of the line. Opening 63-63-66, I’m surprised his lead isn’t larger after 54 holes as it was at Mayakoba (four) when he posted 64-64-65. Andrew Putnam is the closest competitor as he sits two behind while another pair is two further behind. Kuchar has made just one bogey this week and looks to win here for the first time in 14 tries.

Stalking

Putnam has made two more bogeys than Kuchar this week and that’s the deficit he’ll need to make up in the final round. For the third round running he holed over 100 feet in putts. He leads the field in Strokes-Gained: Putting as he’s gained over 10 shots on the field thru three rounds. Let’s see if his final round with Patrick Reed and Tommy Fleetwood at WGC-HSBC Champions prepared him for this. He beat Reed by four and Fleetwood by five that day to finish T4 in his first WGC event.

Not Dawg’ing It

Keith Mitchell jumped into the conversation at the end of Round 2 as he closed 1-3-3 (eagle, birdie, and eagle). The momentum continued in Round 3 for the former Georgia Bulldog as he ripped off seven more birdies on clean card for 63. He’s four back on 14-under and will have to find another low one tomorrow to contend for his first TOUR win.

Too Little Too Late?

Bryson DeChambeau is finally figuring it out this week at Waialae. And if his trend continues he might just kick in the back door and surprise. He circled four birds in Round 1, six in Round 2 and eight in Round 3 and won’t care who’s in front of him.

Old and in the Way

Davis Love III last top 10 here was in 2011. His 64 in Round 3 will give him a big chance to change the record as he begins the final round T5, six back. If you’re playing the “I told you so” card, I’ll point out his last top 10 was the 2017 Wyndham so forgive me if I’m surprised! But if he does win… https://twitter.com/PGATOURComms/status/1084284696672923648

It’s About Time!

The Charles Howell Winter Tour is NOW in full voice at Waialae. Gamers worried that he was floating too close to the cut line for comfort were comforted by his Round 2 66 that moved him from T52 to T20. Charley Three Sticks jumped 15 more places yesterday after 64, his 22nd-consecutive round in the red at Sony. Read that again.

Moving Day

There’s Emiliano Grillo again! He’s more tortoise than hare but his co-low round of the day (63) saw him make the biggest move on the ‘board as he jumped 47 spots to T18. … Sung Kang was 0-4 here before this week. His 65 on Saturday thrusts him to T21. … Monday Qualifier Corey Conners moved up 15 spots on his 64 and is T5.

So You’re Saying There’s a Chance!

Dominic Bozzelli needed a big week. He can see the finish line from here!

Study Hall

Stewart Cink had the low round on Friday with 62 but followed up with 70 to drop out of the top 10. … Ryan Blaum posted 71 and dropped 36 spots to T48. Par or worse is absolutely worthless this week. … Gary Woodland, Cameron Champ, Jason Dufner and Steve Stricker were few of the big names that MDF. … Round 3 checked in at 68.321, the easiest of the week. The forecast suggests another low one on Sunday. … There are now 21 bogey-free rounds on the week. …