England’s Harry Hall made a stunning late birdie to push his lead to two strokes heading into the final round of the PGA Tour’s Sony Open in Hawaii.
Hall was four shots shy of a halftime lead at Waialae Country Club and in danger of falling out of championship contention after playing the first 13 holes of the third round at 1 under, but in the final He birdied four of the five holes and shot a 5-under 65.
The world No. 86 hit his approach to tap-in distance on the par-4 14th, holed 45 feet on the next hole, picked up the shot on the 16th and two-putted on the final par-5. Added birdie. Emerging to 11 under.
Hall sits tied for fifth in his group alongside Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley and former All England champion Brian Harman, just three strokes behind J.J. Spaun at the top of a crowded leaderboard of 15 players. reaches its final day.
“I think the last few times I put a little bit of pressure on myself and kind of had a goal in mind to accomplish,” Hall said. “Tomorrow I’m going to be more patient and maybe take some pressure off my shoulders and go out there and just take it one shot at a time.”
Spaun combined for seven birdies and two for a third-round 65, one stroke ahead of Germany’s Stefan Jaeger, Eric Kohl and Patrick Fishburne, who jumped onto the leaderboard this week with rounds of 62.
Spaun, 34, has won the 2022 Texas Open in 218 previous attempts, his only win on the PGA Tour. Last year, he finished in the top 10 four times.
Denny McCarthy started the day as co-leader with Fishburne, but finished four strokes off the pace with a 1-over 71.
27 players, including Gary Woodland (10 under) and Zach Johnson (8 under), are within five strokes of the leader, and last week’s Sentry winner Hideki Matsuyama (7 under) is one stroke behind, still in the lead. It’s not like they’ve completely fallen out of contention for the championship.
Who will win the Sony Open? Live coverage of the group to watch will continue from 6pm on Sky Sports Golf, ahead of full coverage from 9pm on Sunday. Stream golf and more now.
