Jordan Spieth knew they were coming after him and simply stayed patient.
Spieth’s four-stroke lead was down to one before he found another gear and punctuated his 8-under-par 65 with a 10-foot eagle putt on No. 18 Saturday to go five ahead of Brooks Koepka after three rounds of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions on the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii.
“I wanted to get my 3-iron shot to within 30 feet on 18 and I guess it took a peek in the hole,” said the 22-year-old No. 1 player in the World Golf Rankings. “I was glad to get that last putt into the hole to have a cushion going into tomorrow.
“There was some unbelievable golf played out in front of us considering the conditions were more difficult. This is as far under par I’ve ever been after 54 holes, but I’m going to have to keep making birdies tomorrow. There are still 18 holes to go.”
Spieth was at 24-under 195 through 54 holes, one off the tournament record set by Ernie Els in 2009.
Kopeka, who birdied six straight holes through No. 8, shot 63 and was one stroke back before Spieth holed a 46-foot birdie putt on the 12th hole and played the last eight holes in 5-under.
“I didn’t miss a shot until the second on 18,” said Kopeka, who made a disappointing par on the final hole after nearly shanking a shot from 85 yards. “That was a little embarrassing.
“I flushed it all day and left the ball in all the correct spots. The difference was the putter. I worked on the putting green after the round yesterday and it paid off. It was a matter of just not hitting them hard enough. Today I was making putts.”
Defending champion Patrick Reed birdied four of the last five holes to shoot 67 and was six shots back in third, while Brandt Snedeker had five birdies on the front nine en route to a 65 and was nine strokes behind in a tie for fourth with Fabian Gomez, who had a 70.
Jimmy Walker, who lost in a playoff to Reed last year at Kapalua, birdied six of the last seven holes on the front nine in a 64 and was another shot back in a tie for sixth with Rickie Fowler (69), Steven Bowditch (69) and Kevin Kisner (71).
Jason Day, No. 2 in the world, had a 69 for his best score of the week and was tied for 20th. He was playing for the first time since the Presidents Cup in October after staying home with his family after his wife, Ellie, gave birth to their second child, Lucy.
