HONOLULU – Hayden Buckley hasn’t picked up a club in six weeks since he finished the RSM Classic in Sea Island, Ga., in late November. He took a fiancee, but married his girlfriend Felisa in early December, and the couple then moved to Jupiter, Florida, where they rent a house.
If he continues to show his midseason form, he could take a big test at the Sony Open in Hawaii on Sunday.
With two eagles on nine under at Whyale Country Club, Buckley shot three shots ahead of his second straight six-under 64 and posted a career-low 15-under 195. The second-year PGA Tour player has his first 54-hole lead, snapping a logjam in which eight players had shares of the top at one knot.
Third-year tour member Ben Taylor, 34-year-old rookie David Lipsky and second-round leader Chris Kirk, a two-time runner-up at Waialae, were the closest pursuers at 197. Taylor and Lipsky, who were paired with Buckley on Saturday and will again be in the final round, shot 65 and 66, respectively. Kirk came back from an opening double bogey after pushing his first drive out of bounds to card 68.
Andrew Putnam, after a 62, was joined at 198 by Si Woo Kim, who shot 64. Twenty-four players gathered during six shots. the margin Colin Morikawa led last week at the Sentry Tournament of Champions before Jon Rahm played. shocking rally.
A shootout is expected. Kirk has four career wins, but his last came in 2015 at Colonial. Taylor was third at the Cadence Houston Open in the penultimate event of the fall; Buckley finished T-5 at the Zozo Championship; and Lipsky had a T-10 at Mayakoba, so the top four have something to draw from for the final round.
“If I had won three weeks ago, maybe, but it’s been a while,” Kirk, 37, said when asked if he might have the edge. “I definitely know what it takes, but I also know it’s not easy to do. But I definitely like where I’m at. I like the feel of my golf swing. Obviously, I’m very comfortable and I love this place, so I’m excited for the opportunity to go undefeated against these guys.”
The 26-year-old Buckley, who started the day two shots behind Kirk, made his move starting at the eighth when he covered a three-hole stretch in four under that was capped by an eagle on the short par-4 10th when he wedged open. From 133 yards. His only bogey came at 11 when he couldn’t save out of the first bunker, but the Mississippi native closed in style when he blasted a 5-iron from 222 yards on the par-5 18th that stopped two feet short of putting. his second eagle.
“It seemed like a pretty slow round today, other than the two eagles,” said Buckley, who finished T-12 here last year after a month off with a leg injury, “but we did exactly what we were trying to do and pulled away : by two shots, had two great eagles.’
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