Matt Kuchar found himself in trouble a lot during Saturday’s third round of the Sony Open in Hawaii at Waialae Country Club.

The 2019 champion stayed in contention by leading the event in scrambling, a stat that measures how many times a chip or a putt from less than 50 yards away results in requiring one putt or less on the green.

Kuchar is a perfect 11-for-11 in those situations this week and credited a downpour just after Friday’s second round as the sun went down. That helped keep him in contention, trailing leader Russell Henley by four shots entering the final 18.

“I think it was lucky due to some soft greens,” Kuchar said after his 3-under 67 that left him in a four-way tied for third at 14 under. “I think had greens been firm, had wind been maybe working in a different direction, few of those bunker shots would (have) been nearly impossible.”

Kuchar, who is the only player in the field without a bogey this week, hit 13 of 18 greens but found the sand three times during his round. His first trip to the sand came on the par-4 fifth hole, when he knocked his ball to less than a foot for par.

He saved another one on 14 and then survived a mishit on 18 that left him 47 yards from the green in the left rough near the grandstand.

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His third shot went into a bunker and, without much green to work with, he was able to chip it to 2 feet and tap it in for a much-needed par save to finish the round.

“I hope not to be in too many of those situations tomorrow,” Kuchar said. “I know it’s going to take a low number for me tomorrow.”

Howell to add to his $3M in Sony earnings

A 69 on Thursday and a 71 on Saturday aren’t going to help Charles Howell III’s quest for an 11th top-10 finish at Waialae Country Club.

A 7-under 63 on Friday did help him extend his streak of consecutive cuts made here to 21 dating back to his tournament debut in 2002.

Howell has more than $3 million in earnings at the Sony Open in Hawaii but needed to go low on Friday to extend his made-cut streak.

He made eight birdies during his second round and got it to 9 under on Saturday before making three bogeys, including one on 18 when he chunked one out of the rough.

He’s currently tied for 39th at 7 under.

No. 1 amateur struggles to keep pace

Japan’s Keita Nakajima became the first amateur to make the cut since then-Punahou junior Kyle Suppa in 2015.

The world’s No.-1 ranked amateur started the day in an 11-way tie for fifth place but managed just one birdie, on the par-3 seventh, and shot a 2-over 72 to fall into a tie for 39th place at 7 under.

Playing in the tournament on a sponsor’s exemption, Nakajima will surely stick around after he completes his final round today.

His mentor, Hideki Matsuyama, is in the final group.

“He’s a superstar in Japan,” Nakajima said earlier this week.

Where to score, where not to score

The par-4 13th is playing as the most difficult hole of the tournament with a 4.21 average score. It has yielded the fewest birdies (25) and most bogeys (91) in the tournament.

The par-5 18th is playing as the easiest hole with an average score of 4.22. There have been 26 eagles and 223 birdies made and just 11 bogeys.