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HONOLULU (AP) — Stephan Jaeger had nine birdies for the lowest round this week at Waialae, and two of the most important holes for him Saturday in the Sony Open were pars.
Jaeger knows dropping a shot is losing ground, and the way the Sony Open is playing out, no one can afford to do that at a tournament that is wide open going into the final round.
J.J. Spaun twice responded to bogeys with birdies in the closing stretch at Waialae, the last one a pitch-and-putt on the par-5 18th that gave him a 5-under 65 and a one-shot lead over Jaeger, Eric Cole (67) and Patrick Fishburn (68).
Jaeger had a 62 that included a birdie putt from just under 60 week on No. 8, his 17th hole. But he thought back to the bunker shot on the par-3 fourth to 2 feet to save par, and another bunker shot on the par-3 seventh and a 6-foot par save.
“I had just made two birdies the previous holes, and I hit it in the bunker, and I hit the bunker shot close so I didn’t really have to grind very hard,” Jaeger said. “But to make par there kind of kept the momentum going, and I birdied a couple holes after that.”
Spaun was at 13-under 197, and there were 14 players within three shots of his lead.
That's usually the case at the Sony Open. This old-school course with its doglegs and deep bunkers and unpredictable Bermuda rough has a way of staying bunched until the very end.
Jaeger is best known for his Houston Open win over Scottie Scheffler during Scheffler's most dominant part of a dominant year. He was six shots behind going into the third round. He also had 40 players between him and the two players atop the leaderboard.
“You're in limbo at that point,” Jaeger said. “You're either going to have a great round and have a chance or ... to shoot a great round and be in contention is nice.”
Fishburn, in his Sony debut as a second-year player out of Utah, was the only player to reach 14 under with his birdie on the par-5 ninth to go out in 31 and create some separation. But he made only one birdie the rest of the way, blasting a drive 360 yards with the wind at his back and hitting a flip wedge that rolled over the cup. He also made three bogeys, and he failed to birdie the par 5 closing hole.
Fishburn dropping a few shots brought many back into the tournament.
Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley birdied his last two holes for a 64 and was in the group two shots behind that included Nick Taylor of Canada (65), former British Open champion Brian Harman (66) and Nico Echavarria of Chile, the Zozo Championship winner in Japan last fall who played bogey-free in the wind for a 66.
“As soon as we made the turn there, the conditions got quite a bit harder,” Fishburn said. “A lot of the wind was hard off the left with pins on the left, so it was a tricky setup.”
The group three shots behind included Lucas Glover and Gary Woodland, who returned from brain surgery at the Sony Open a year ago and took until later in the year before he got his brain functioning the right way through breathing and meditation exercises.
Woodland, who had a second straight 66, has played at Waialae enough to know it's usually bunched — Justin Thomas was the exception in 2017 when he set the PGA Tour's scoring record at 253 — and that a winner can come out of nowhere.
“If you can get hot, you can make a run,” Woodland said. “It wouldn't shock me if someone came from behind and posted a number. Everything is trending in the right direction. A couple of guys posted a good number. Hopefully, that's me tomorrow.”
Jaeger stood out with the low round of the tournament. He made a pair of 20-foot birdies on the front nine — he started on No. 10 — and got a big boost with a birdie from just under 60 feet on the eighth hole. He finished with a wedge to 4 feet for birdie on the par-5 ninth.
Spaun effectively starts from the pole position Sunday with a lot of cars revved up behind him.
“I’ve felt pretty calm and relaxed out there. It’s been a fun week here in Hawaii,” he said. “It’s always laid back and easygoing. I’ve been carrying that mindset on the course, and it’s easy to feel that way when things are going your way and you’re playing well. Just try to hone in on that tomorrow and see what happens.”
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
