Tadd Fujikawa’s day followed the arc of a well-struck iron.

Low at the beginning and end with a big peak in the middle.

Fujikawa’s first drive in the third round at the Sony Open in Hawaii sailed out of bounds to the right to set up a double bogey. He pulled his last into a tree to the left, leading to a bogey on the par-5 finishing hole.

In between came a stirring run of three birdies that brought Fujikawa within sight of the leaders, and when his last putt dropped he settled for a 1-over-par 71 that left him at 4 under for the tournament, one of 10 players tied for 41st.

At 21 years old, Fujikawa understands managing the day-to-day and shot-to-shot undulations within a tournament are just part of life as a professional.

"My goal today was to put myself in contention and I kind of shot myself out of it," Fujikawa said. "But that’s golf and something you’re going to have to go through."

Coming off the high of Friday’s 66 capped by an eagle on his final hole, Fujikawa stepped to the first tee at 11:33 a.m. Saturday. A moment later he was teeing up a provisional, which ultimately counted as his third stroke of the round when a brief search among the shrubs fronting one of the neighboring houses came up empty.

"That’s always my tendency, to hit it right," Fujikawa said. "Just a bad habit with my golf swing."

After his double bogey dropped him to 3 under, Fujikawa steadied himself with six consecutive tap-in pars after giving himself lengthy birdie putts.

Then came a 35-minute charge up the leaderboard.

He stuck his second shot on the eighth hole 4 feet from the pin to set up his first birdie of the day. A sand save on the par-5 ninth moved him back to even par for the day.

After making the turn, he muscled up on his drive on the 351-yard No. 10, powering it to the fringe fronting the green.

"I didn’t think I could reach the green," Fujikawa said. "I thought I could get to the upslope or 10-15 yards short. I didn’t think I could get all the way to the front. I gave it a little extra, but I was still surprised."

Two putts later he was sitting at 6 under with eight holes left.

But after hitting the fairway on six of seven holes on the front side, Fujikawa found the short grass just twice on the back and hit two greens in regulation. He managed to scramble for pars on six consecutive holes, including a big bending 16-foot putt from the fringe on No. 14.

"It wasn’t really far off," Fujikawa said of his swings off the tee, "but it was just enough to not give myself a chance for birdie."

Fujikawa slid down the leaderboard with a bogey-bogey finish on 17 and 18, with post-round plans to straighten out his swings on the driving range and ice a bothersome thumb before what he hopes will be a strong Sunday finish.

"I’m out here to enjoy myself and to have fun," said Fujikawa, who tees off at 9:20 a.m. with Gavin Coles. "Obviously, I still want to play good, but enjoying myself and soaking it all up is really important.

"It’s another day of golf. Today wasn’t that great, but just take it as it comes."