Brendan Steele has been in a bit of a slump the last couple years, but he seems to be back on track.
The 36-year-old Steele recovered from a slow start to shoot 6-under-par 64 and take a three-stroke lead over Cameron Smith of Australia heading to the final round of the Sony Open in Hawaii at Waialae Country Club https://waialaecc.com on the outskirts of Honolulu.
“Actually, I didn’t get off to a very good start, 2-over through four holes, but I still felt like I was hitting good shots and good putts,” said Steele, who is from Idyllwild in the Southern California mountains and UC Riverside. “I just trusted what I was doing and stuck with it.
“I’m just going to keep doing what I have been doing and hope it’s good enough to win, which is always difficult out here. I’m going to just stick with what I’m doing, keep the pedal down, know when to go for birdies and when to just grind out pars.”
Steele, who claimed the last of his three PGA Tour victories in the 2017 Safeway Open, sank an eight-foot eagle putt on the ninth hole and collected five birdie on the back nine—including three in a row at the finish—while recording a 54-hole score of 12-under 198.
Smith, who teamed with Jonas Blixt of Sweden to win the 2017 Zurich Classic of New Orleans but has never won an individual title on the PGA Tour, birdied four of the last five holes to cap a 66.
“I was a little scratchy at the start, didn’t have my best stuff, but was able to get up-and-down a couple times,” said Smith, who won the Australian PGA Championship in 2017 and 2018. “I got things going and felt better with my irons on the back nine and gave myself a chance.”
Kevin Kisner made a bogey on the first hole but rang up seven birdies the rest of the way to shot 64 and is four shots back in solo third, while Webb Simpson carded a 66 and is one more down in a tie for fourth with first-round leader Collin Morikawa of La Canada Flintridge and Cal, and 2010 Sony champion Ryan Palmer, who both finished at 68.
“I hit the ball as well as I did the first two days, when I didn’t make any putts,” said Kisner, who won the 2019 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. “It was still windy, but it might have been about 10 miles-per-hour less than the first two days, and it was nice to see putts go where they are supposed to go. I feel like I gave myself a shot at it tomorrow.”
Mark Anderson posted a 64 and is six down in a tie for seventh with Sungjae Im of South Korea, who totaled 67, Bo Hoag and Keegan Bradley, who both wound up at 69.
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