KAPALUA, Maui>> Chris Kirk birdied No. 18 to cap a 7-under-par 66 today at the Kapalua Plantation Course and head into Sunday’s final round of The Sentry with a one-shot lead.

Kirk, who tied for second at last year’s Sony Open, completed the first three rounds of the PGA Tour’s season-opening event at 21 under par. He’s one shot ahead of Akshay Bhatia, who also fashioned a 66 today.

Bhatia led for much of the day after making the turn in 5 under, but he closed with a three-putt on the 18th hole for a par. That opened the door for Kirk to hold the 54-hole lead by himself.

Kirk bogeyed No. 3 to go 1 over for the day, but then produced a run of four birdies in a row on the front, and four more on the back nine.

“It sounds dumb and cliche, but you just got to go do your thing,” said Kirk, when asked about his chances to win. “I may go play great tomorrow, and somebody may play a little bit better. There’s only so much control you have over that. So, you just kind of stay with your process and just go do it. But it is always strange like after having a pretty good bit of time off at home and it’s been cold and haven’t been practicing a whole lot, you kind of don’t expect to come out and go play great. It’s fun just to be here and enjoy Hawaii and be able to make some nice free swings in this warm weather.”

Xander Schauffele, who won here in 2019, shot 65 today and is tied for third at 19 under with Jordan Spieth and Byeong Hun An.

Second-round leader Scottie Scheffler and first-round leader Sahith Theegala are tied for sixth at 18 under with Jason Day and Harris English. English posted the best round of the day with a 9-under 64.

Last year’s runner-up, Collin Morikawa, is tied for 10th at 17 under after shooting 3-under-par 70 today.