Shoulder bothering Daly

John Daly, who teed off at the 10th, made the rest of us feel human Saturday after shooting a 45 on his back nine that included a 52-foot birdie at the ninth to shoot a 9-over 79 and drop into last place among those who made the cut at 7-over 217.

Daly carded two birdies and a bogey on the back nine to make the turn at 1-under 34 and 3 under for the Sony Open in Hawaii tournament. But after parring the difficult first hole, he went double bogey, bogey, par, par, triple bogey, double bogey, triple bogey and birdie. That long birdie putt kept him from shooting 80 for his round and 50 for his nine.

Daly tweeted after the round, "tendon in the AC on my right shoulder popped out on #6 hitting a rock–thought I separated my shoulder again! Got it popped in at the physio! Hopefully better tomorrow! Nothing worse than your shoulder locked up!"

Daly went as low as 4 under for the tournament with a birdie at No. 14. Over his last 13 holes, Daly shot 11 over par.

Veterans who have a chance

While the rookies stole the show this week, veteran golfers Charles Howell III and Tim Clark still have a chance to win the first full-field event on the PGA Tour.

Both have runner-up finishes at Waialae, with Howell doing it twice, including last year. Clark will be in the final pairing with sensational youngsters Russell Henley and Scott Langley after going to 14 under for the tournament with a birdie at the last. Howell is one shot in back of Clark, tied for fourth with another rookie, Scott Gardiner.

"I hung in there well today," Howell said. "I didn’t play my best today but was able to grind it out a little bit and short game saved me on a few holes. I have a chance with a good round (today)."

If Clark had not birdied 18, there would have been three rookie golfers in the final pairing. He shot back-to-back 66s to put himself in a position to win. He has 10 second-place finishes in his tour career.

"I don’t think I’m going to intimidate them," Clark said of being in the last group. "But yeah, I was quite happy with that (birdie at 18). Obviously, these calmer conditions you’d hope to score better, but it just seems like the course still showed some teeth, and really happy with that round now."

Inside the numbers

The scoring average for Saturday was nearly a half-stroke higher than Friday’s at 68.162. The cumulative total after 54 holes is 69.031. The scoring average among the top nine finishers entering today’s final round was a blistering 66.1.

Harris English had the best round of the day at 8-under 62. He went from barely making the cut to a tie for 14th, seven shots off the pace of third-round leaders Henley and Langley.

Wilson tied for 51st entering final day

For a moment it looked like Kaneohe’s Dean Wilson might end his round with another memorable shot from off of Waialae Country Club’s ninth green.

A day after closing with an eagle from the fairway to make the cut in the Sony Open in Hawaii, Wilson hit his third shot on the par-5 from the green-side bunker. This time the ball ended up a few inches away from the cup. His tap-in birdie capped a round of 1-under-par 69.

Wilson enters today’s final round at 4 under for the tournament and tied for 51st. His three-day total of 206 is his best in 11 Sony Open starts.

"I’d like to get a little more under par. I didn’t hit the ball as nicely as I did (Friday), but finishing up with birdie feels good," Wilson said.

Wilson double-bogeyed the 13th hole but made up for it with birdies at No. 17 and 18. He stopped his first shot on No. 17 inside of 4 feet from the hole to set up his first birdie of the round. He later made a 9-foot putt on the par-3 fourth hole to get back to 1 under for the day.

"Wherever I get them I’ll take them," Wilson said. "But my caddie once told me a 2 looks a lot better on the card than a 3 or 4."

Key Hole 6: Par 4, 460 Yards

Had Scott Langley successfully navigated the difficult par-4 sixth on Saturday, he would have a one-shot lead going into today’s final round of the Sony Open in Hawaii. Instead, he was one of four of the top nine finishers who had to scribble a 5 inside a square on their scorecards.There were six birdies and 16 bogeys at that hole on Saturday.