The youngest member of today’s final grouping at Waialae Country Club might actually have the deepest history in Hawaii.
Zac Blair made an annual trip to Oahu while playing college golf for BYU before turning pro two years ago and tied for sixth in his Sony Open in Hawaii debut last year.
That said, when it comes to playing in a last group on Sunday in a PGA Tour event, Blair will be quite a bit behind his partners.
Blair, 25, shot a 6-under-par 64 on Saturday and will join seven-time tour winner Brandt Snedeker and FedEx Cup point leader Kevin Kisner in today’s 12:30 p.m. tee time at Waialae.
Snedeker, the 2012 FedEx Cup winner, and Blair enter the final round tied atop the leaderboard at 16-under 194 with Kisner a shot back. All had hiccups toward the end of otherwise solid third rounds on Saturday and will lead a still tight leaderboard into the final round.
For his part, Snedeker has trained himself to keep his focus off the scoreboard.
“I can’t control what everybody else is doing,” Snedeker said. “I’m going to go out there and try to shoot as low as I possibly can. You see here in years past, guys shoot 62, 63 here on Sunday to get the job done.
“I know I’m going to have to make some birdies tomorrow. Even par or 1 under par is not going to get it done. Need to go out there and play like I did today and make some putts.”
Snedeker missed the cut in his previous two Sony Open appearances and hadn’t entered the event since 2008. In his return, he’s had at least a share of the lead each of the first three days and turned in a 4-under 66 on Saturday.
Kisner also shot 66 for the second straight round and today’s tee time will be his first on a Sunday at Waialae in his fifth Sony Open.
But the pursuit for the title isn’t quite limited to the lead group. Si Woo Kim of South Korea is two strokes behind the leaders, with Argentina’s Fabian Gomez two more back at 12 under.
All three of the leaders arrived at the interview room in the clubhouse on Saturday reflecting on missed opportunities late in the round.
Blair set himself up for a closing birdie and the outright lead on the par-5 18th, but his 2-foot putt lipped out and he finished with par in his second straight bogey-free round.
Blair turned pro in 2014 after being named a third-team All-American his senior year at BYU. He had two top-10s last year, the first coming at Waialae when he finished at 12 under. Since opening last year’s tournament with a 1-over 71, Blair has played the next six Sony Open rounds at 29 under.
Blair had four birdies on the front side on Saturday and caught Snedeker at 14 under with a birdie on the par-5 ninth. Snedeker reclaimed the lead and Blair matched him again with a birdie putt from just inside 43 feet on 13. Blair was alone in the lead for a bit after draining his sixth birdie of the day on No. 15 to drop to 16 under.
“I think it just kind of goes back to the same things. If you get the ball in play and get it on the green, it seems like you have some good looks on most of the holes out here,” said Blair, who placed fourth in the John A. Burns Intercollegiate at Turtle Bay’s Palmer Course in 2013.
One group behind Blair, Snedeker’s 10-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th slid by and he too settled for par on 18 to close out his round and has just one bogey in his first 54 holes.
“Ended up with a little bit of a shaky start, but played really well,” Snedeker said. “A little disappointed, to be honest with you, with the round. I parred the two par-5s from the middle of the fairway. I missed a short birdie putt on 1, a short birdie putt on 17, and didn’t really feel like I had good speed on my putts all day. But besides that I hit the ball fantastic and gave myself a lot of opportunities. Do that again (today), I should be in good shape.”
Kisner kept pace and was a shot behind the leaders when his tee shot on 17 sailed over the skyboxes on the left side of the green. After being allowed to drop on the other side, he left his chip short, leading to his lone bogey of the day. He recovered to birdie 18 and secure a spot in today’s final grouping in pursuit of his second win of the season.
“I think it’s huge tomorrow so you know what’s going on,” Kisner said. “You’re not having to look at scoreboards. Obviously you have to check early and see if anybody is going super low from ahead of you. But when you’re coming down those last few holes, you want to be in that last group with the guy that’s either winning or you’re winning and the guy chasing you.”
