In a Sony Open that is far from a two-man competition, Keegan Bradley shares the lead with Grayson Murray after birdieing his final two holes on Saturday to shoot a 7-under 63.
Typical of Waialae Country Club, six players were within three shots of the lead. In the third round, ten players had at least a share of the lead since it was such a crazy stunning afternoon up the coastlines from Waikiki.
It was difficult to get some gap, but Bradley and Murray did manage to do so.
On the 17th par-3, Bradley made a birdie with a cut 6-iron to a back pin that was 6 feet away. On the last par-5, he missed the bunker with his tee shot. He was able to get it on the green for a 2-putt birdie thanks to a decent lay.
He was now 14-under 196 as a result. Murray quickly caught up with him, making his 64 by chipping in from the bunker left of the 18th green.
They held a one-shot lead over 63-player Sam Stevens.
Chris Kirk (67) is one of the individuals still involved. Despite being three strokes down, he can still have dreams of being the third player to sweep the Hawaii swing, behind Ernie Els in 2004 and Justin Thomas in 2017. He won The Sentry last week.
Six-time PGA TOUR winner Bradley will be attempting to win for the 3rd time in the last 16 months. Murray, a gifted athlete who attended 3 universities and struggled with alcohol abuse 3 years prior, including an incident in Honolulu, will be in the final group with him.
He believes he has turned the corner, and Kirk, who had to give up golf in 2019 to deal with alcoholism and despair, served as a great source of inspiration for him.
“It’s clear that I’ve already spoken out against alcohol consumption. I’ve been clean for more than eight months. In addition to my parents, who I adore and who are always there for me, I have a stunning fiancée. Just makes everything so much easier when I’m out here inside the ropes and everyone is supporting me from all sides. Even if I still have difficult days, they are always there for me. However, I now feel much more at ease within the ropes.” Murray said.
Matthieu Pavon of France is among the group at 11-under 199. Last year, he was one of ten men to secure PGA TOUR cards via the DP World Tour points standings. After finishing his second round with five straight birdies, Pavon was among those in the lead on Saturday until he fell into a run of pars and one bogey on the back nine.
And then there’s Taiga Semikawa of Japan, playing on a Sony Open sponsor exemption. He is one of 21 golfers named Taiga on the Japan Golf Tour. It is not a coincidence that it is pronounced that way even if it does not translate to “tiger.”
Those players are mostly 26 years of age or younger, having been born in 1997 when Tiger Woods broke all records and invigorated the sport.
“Yes, Tiger Woods inspired my name, and I adopted some of his playing style. I think that kind of matches my nature and is something I strive to replicate in my own game because I grew up admiring his aggressive style.” Semikawa stated through a translator.
One instance was from a fairway bunker on the 14th hole, where Semikawa hammered a shot out to 10 feet. That commenced a final run of 4 birdies in his final 5 holes.
During or after his round, Semikawa never bothered to glance at a leaderboard. On Thursday, he celebrated his 23rd birthday and seemed to be having a great time.
Sunday will be a day to make birdies and keep moving forward for a great many others.
“You can’t spend your entire day gazing at the leaderboard, which makes it a challenging task. You can go from leading to 12th in just a second if you make a bogie or several consecutive pars. To win, I’ll probably need to go out tomorrow and shoot another fairly low shot.” Bradley said.
