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JJ Spaun shot a five-under par 65 to take a one-shot lead after Saturday’s third round of the US PGA Sony Open in Hawaii after fellow American Patrick Fishburn faded late.
Spaun made birdies at 16 and 18 after bogeys at the 15th and 17th holes to finish 54 holes at 13-under 197 at windy Waialae Country Club in Honolulu.
“It was a pretty solid round overall,” Spaun said. “I just got off to a good start. I made a few pars on the first two holes and then a nice birdie on three. I just took what it gave me and took the opportunities when they came. came and I took advantage of it.”
German Stephan Jaeger shot a career-high PGA 62 with nine birdies and a bogey to share second place on 198 with Americans Eric Cole and Fishburn, who shot 68 after sharing a 36-hole lead with his compatriot Denny McCarthy.
“I got off to a good start. The last nine games were completely different. It was brutal,” Fishburn said. “I made a lot of downwind putts that you couldn’t really be aggressive with.
“It was a little tricky but I held on as best I could. I would have liked to have made those last two (par) putts, but it was a good day. I’m glad it was four rounds so I I’ll have another chance. See you tomorrow.”
Spaun, who won his only PGA title at the 2022 Texas Open, is from Los Angeles and has been watching news reports of devastating wildfires in that area closely.
“It’s pretty tragic,” Spaun said. “I don’t have any family or friends in this area who were affected, but I know a lot of people who know people who were affected, and it’s devastating. It’s sad to see.”
Spaun holed a birdie putt from just outside 17 feet at the 16th to tie Fishburn for the lead at 13 under.
Fishburn holed a birdie putt from just inside six feet at 14 to regain the only lead and when Spaun missed the green and made bogey after missing a 10-foot par putt at the par-3 17th, Fishburn had a advances by two moves.
But Fishburn missed the 15th green on his approach and made bogey while Spaun went five feet to 18 and sank his birdie putt to share the lead again at 13 under.
Fishburn found his first greenside bunker of the week at 17, then pitched to six feet to miss his par putt, leaving Spaun alone at the top.
– Relaxed spaun in Hawaii –
At the par-5 18th, Fishburn drove off the edge of a fairway bunker into a greenside bunker, then pitched to just shy of eight feet, but looped his birdie putt to the right of the hole, leaving Spaun on top of the ranking.
“I felt pretty calm and relaxed,” Spaun said. “It’s always laid back and easy going. I kept that mindset on the course and it’s easy to feel that way when you’re playing well.”
Fishburn opened with back-to-back birdies to take the lead, making a 16-foot putt at the first and a 50-foot chip at the second hole, then followed a bogey at the third with a 10-foot birdie putt at the fifth.
He extended his lead to two shots with a 33-foot birdie putt at the eighth and a six-foot birdie putt at the par-5 ninth.
But he missed the green at the par-3 11th and made a bogey tie with Spaun, who then took a bogey at the 15th only to fall briefly again.
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