DeChambeau shoots a 63 but feels like it could have been a 59

Bryson DeChambeau walked off his final green of the day, shook his head in disgust, muttered something under his breath and started practicing his putting stroke.

That all came after his eighth birdie of the day.

A 7-under 63 was DeChambeau’s best round in his two years of playing at the Sony Open in Hawaii, but when you have visions of shooting in the 50s, even a 63 can feel a little disappointing.

“I really felt I could have shot 59 today,” DeChambeau said. “I was playing that good, hitting it that good, putting it a lot better.”

Ranked fifth in the world, the 25-year-old DeChambeau came to Hawaii to start the New Year as arguably the hottest golfer in the world.

A winner at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in early November, DeChambeau has finished in the top 12 of all four events so far this season, including a seventh-place showing at Kapalua last week in the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

His second trip to Waialae Country Club started off as a struggle on the greens. He was 132nd out of 144 golfers in strokes gained putting after the opening round. Through two rounds, he had attempted 61 putts.

That changed Saturday after a long practice session into the night after Friday’s 3-under 67.

“Oh, I was working until 7:15, 7:20,” DeChambeau said. “We had lights out there. I wasn’t going to leave until I figured it out. That’s just me.

“My face angle at impact with putting was not on line at all. I mean, it was like a blackout. I had no idea where I was starting. So I had to figure it out last night.”

The work paid off Saturday, as he made twice as many feet of putts as he did on Thursday.

He was 3 under at the turn after starting on the back nine and was money from 24 feet on No. 1 for a birdie. DeChambeau then cashed in two putts in a row from 12 feet for birdies on Nos. 2 and 3.

An approach shot on No. 5 landed in the rough, leading to a bogey before he closed with two more birdies to shoot 63.

“We’re going in the right direction. It’s just frustrating that it didn’t happen Thursday,” said DeChambeau, who started the tournament with a 69. “I want to understand why that’s happening, and if that happens, watch out.”

That first round is the difference between needing a 59 to threaten for the lead and being in realistic striking distance to leader Matt Kuchar, who shot 66 or better for the third straight day to get to 18 under, seven shots ahead of DeChambeau.

DeChambeau is tied for fifth with a few big names, including Davis Love III and a regular on the Sony Open leaderboard, Charles Howell III, who both shot 64.

Only Emiliano Grillo, who barely made the cut, and Keith Mitchell, who is in sole possession of third place, matched DeChambeau with a 63.

“I like it (at Waialae),” he said. “It’s a good test of golf — an interesting test of golf. I think coming into this week playing well last week, if I would’ve just ball-striked it a little bit better it would’ve been fine. Clearly that wasn’t the case, but I like the golf course in general.”