Tom Hoge hasn’t played in the last group of a PGA Tour event all that often.

That doesn’t mean he’s new to final-round pressure.

Hoge posted two top-10s in 17 starts on tour last season but needed a strong finish at the Web.com Tour Championship in October to keep his tour card.

After a middling start to the final round, he birdied seven of his last 12 holes and drained a 15-foot putt to avoid a trip back to the minors.

With his card secure for this season, Hoge positioned himself for a run at his first PGA Tour win with a round of 6-under-par 64 on Saturday to claim the Sony Open in Hawaii’s 54-hole lead at 16 under.

“It’s a lot different circumstance, I would say. Trying to win on the PGA Tour, something you’ve always dreamed of, versus kind of going through a Q-school or a Web.com final,” Hoge said. “But at the same time, I would say for me, it’s just that belief in myself, knowing I can get it done when I have to and make the putts when I have to. It’s a big thing for me.”

While moving day on Saturday didn’t include a breakaway, Hoge edged into the lead with a birdie-birdie finish to match his best score in three Sony appearances and earn his first Sunday tee time in the event.

He carded a 64 in the second round in 2015 but didn’t make it to Sunday after a 73 left him below the third-round cut. He lasted just two rounds in 2016 with twin 71s.

This week, he has attacked Waialae to hit 44 of 54 greens in regulation and made 127 feet, 5 inches in putts on Saturday, including a 40-footer for birdie on No. 17 to take the lead.

Hoge got married in early December and practiced in Phoenix in preparation for the trip to Hawaii.

“For me, it’s more a matter of where my game’s at after taking a few months off and getting away from golf a little bit,” Hoge said of his new-found comfort at Waialae this week. “This year was probably the most practice I’ve done coming into it. So I feel pretty good about things.”

Hoge was immersed in watching a TCU basketball game when Saturday morning’s infamous missile warning startled the state. A few hours after the false alarm was confirmed, the former Horned Frog, who still lives in Fort Worth, checked in for his tee time as part of a five-player pack three shots behind Brian Harman.

Hoge passed Harman with a closing birdie and tops a far tighter leaderboard entering the final round compared to a year ago. Justin Thomas was seven strokes clear of the field through 54 holes last year and maintained that margin while setting the tour’s scoring record at 27-under 253.

Hoge tees off at 11:20 a.m. today one shot ahead of Harman and Patton Kizzire, with four others within four shots of the lead.

“I think it’s going to be a shootout,” said Kizzire, who picked up his first tour victory at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in November.

Kizzire started his Saturday with a double bogey, strung five consecutive birdies in the middle of the round and added three more in the last five holes to match Hoge with a 64 and move to 15 under for the tournament.

“If you hit good shots, you can make birdies on almost every hole,” Kizzire said. “But if you’re in the rough or out of position, you’re really scrambling for par. So I think there’s a lot of guys that are going to be making birdies. I just got to keep the pedal down and try to make a bunch.”

Hoge caught Harman with a birdie on No. 10 to move to 14 under and took the lead when his putt from just inside the right fringe on the par-3 17th fell into the cup.

Harman, playing a group behind Hoge, answered moments later with a birdie on 16. But Hoge closed with a birdie on No. 18 and Harman’s approach into the greenside bunker all but erased his shot at going into the final round with a share of the lead.

“The course played a little tougher today, at least for me,” Harman said. “There are some tee shots out there that are at best 50-50 balls, like the one I had on 18. Probably the best drive I hit all week and I get up there and I don’t have much of a second shot. I’ve been kind of getting those breaks all week and today I saw the other side of it. Hopefully, it will move back in my favor tomorrow.”

Kyle Stanley begins the day two shots behind Hoge after his 65, followed by Chris Kirk at 13 under. Kirk went into No. 16 tied for the lead, but a drive into the trees set up a bogey and he signed for a 67.

Thomas moved into the top 10 with a round of 66 and is part of a group of five players at 10 under. Jordan Spieth, the world’s second-ranked player, carded his best round of the week with a 4-under 66 to move to 7 under and into a tie for 28th.

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