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Tournaments

30-second guide to the Sony: Matt Kuchar leads by two headed to Sunday’s final round

Dylan DethierBy Dylan Dethier
January 13, 2019

We’re here to catch you up on all the action from the third round at the Sony Open at Waialae Country Club in Hawaii.

Who’s leading? Matt Kuchar sits at 18 under. The smooth-swinging 40-year-old kept a clean card, notching four birdies against zero bogeys for a round of four-under 66. He hit 16 of 18 greens and stayed in control on a day when scores were low across the board. Kuchar won just two starts ago at the Mayakoba Golf Classic.

“It’s the golf I like to play. Just stay out of trouble,” he told Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis after the round.

Matt Kuchar Round Three SOny Open
Matt Kuchar leads the Sony Open heading to Sunday’s final round.

Who’s chasing? Andrew Putnam was in second place after the first round and second place after the second round. Guess what? He’s in second place after the third round, two shots behind Kuchar at 16 under. Keith Mitchell blitzed the course for seven birdies and a 63 and sits at 14-under. He’s joined there by Chez Reavie (66). Bryson DeChambeau and Davis Love III headline a nine-player group at 11-under.

“How’d that stay out?” of the day: That would belong to Putnam, who hit what looked to be a perfect chip at No. 6 that did everything but fall in the hole. Seriously, everything.

Round of the day: We’ll give Mitchell and Bryson DeChambeau a tie for the win here with matching 63s, but DeChambeau wins the tiebreaker for being most quotable. After struggling on the greens Friday, he stayed until it was dark working on his alignment and his vision.

“I mean, it was like a blackout. I had no idea where I was starting,” DeChambeau said. He seemed to figure things out for Saturday, when he made eight birdies. But he was still fixated on a late miss after the round. “I missed on the last hole. I couldn’t see the line. And then it gets down to like an optics thing. Like my eyes just sometimes — I just can’t see straight lines. It’s really weird. Sometimes they curve.”

Never a dull moment in a DeChambeau interview. He sits T5 headed to Sunday’s final round.