KAPALUA, Maui>> If Chris Kirk keeps this up. one of these days he will win in Hawaii.
That day could be today, at The Sentry.
Kirk, 38 and a five-time PGA Tour winner, enters the final round at the Plantation Course at Kapalua at 21 under. He grabbed the solo lead with a birdie on No. 18 Saturday to complete his third round at 7-under-par 66.
Kirk, a 17-year pro, has come close several times at the Sony Open in Hawaii, finishing in the top five in four of his 13 appearances. Most recently, he held at least a share of the lead after both of the first two rounds at Waialae last year before finishing third.
In his four previous appearances at Kapalua, Kirk has one top-10 finish and four top-25s. That can be a little deceiving, since this invitational field always included winners from the previous year only — until recently adding high achievers on the FedEx Cup list. It is basically golf’s all-star game, with no cut, and a much smaller number of players than a full-field PGA event.
Of course, that makes it harder to win, too, and there’s even more motivation for everyone now that this is among the PGA’s new designated Signature Events that feature bigger purses, smaller fields and access to more FedEx Cup points.
Regardless, Kirk usually plays well in the islands — good enough over the years to earn $2,238,955 in his two runners-up and seven other cuts made at Waialae, and $470,250 on Maui. But he’s yet to make it over the hump to take home the hardware at either.
If that is a source of frustration for him, he didn’t sound like it after Saturday’s round.
“I may go play great tomorrow, and somebody may play a little bit better,” Kirk said. “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. I always loved coming here.”
Forget about Kirk’s eight birdies Saturday. The real highlight was his par at No. 15, where a bad tee shot eventually left him with a 20-footer for the save at the par-5, which he made.
If his first Hawaii victory is to come today, Kirk must fend off eight of the tour’s established and rising stars who are within three shots — and three shots isn’t a whole lot considering how generous the almost-windless course has been all week, and is expected to be again today.
It’s a mixed bag of brand-name stars and up-and-comers who will give chase, starting with 21-year-old Akshay Bhatia. Bhatia qualified for The Sentry with his first PGA victory last year, a playoff win over Patrick Rodgers at the Barracuda Championship.
Like Kirk, he finished at 7 under for the day. Bhatia seems at ease, especially considering it’s his first time at this best-of-the-best event and playing this course. And he’s doing it with a new long putter.
“I don’t know if I’m surprised, I was just kind of pretty comfortable today and I know my game’s really good. Obviously, made a putter change, which has been a big help,” Bhatia said. “As far as confidence, I kind of went into the week with a no-judgment attitude on it, and so far it’s been feeling really good. I’m excited to see how I feel with the lead or with expectations that I have on myself of winning tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it.”
He blasted off with five birdies on the front nine Saturday to make the turn at 17 under, and held the lead himself, or a share of it, most of the rest of the day. The new flat stick didn’t betray Bhatia until No. 18, when he three-putted for par.
Viktor Hovland made a move and was tied with Bhatia briefly at 18 under, but Hovland triple-bogeyed his way out of contention at No. 14, and Bhatia snagged his final birdie of the day on No. 15 to move to 19 under and a shot ahead of 2020 Olympic gold medalist and 2019 Sentry winner Xander Schauffele.
Schauffele finished the round tied for third with Jordan Spieth and Byeong Hun An, two strokes of the pace of Kirk.
More danger lurks at three back. 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 score of the third round with a 9-under 64.
Last year’s third-round leader and eventual runner-up, Collin Morikawa, is tied for 10th at 17 under after shooting 3-under-par 70 Saturday.
Spieth said there is no way to predict the final leaderboard.
“We’ll just have to see the conditions,” the three-time major winner said. “And I just assume I have to shoot 6-under plus or you finish top 25, and that’s just crazy how the scoring is.”
