Davis Riley had a strong finishing stretch to shoot 3-under-par 67 and claim the lead through the third round of the Sony Open on Saturday in Honolulu.
Riley is at 12-under 198 going into Sunday's final round of the PGA Tour's season-opening tournament at Waialae Country Club.
"I just started feeling really good with the swing and I was hitting my start lines," Riley said. "That's the biggest thing in this wind, is hit your start lines and control the curvature, and I felt like I was hitting some really good hold shots against the wind."
Chris Gotterup (68), Kevin Roy (69) and England's Harry Hall (66) share second place at 10 under. Ryan Gerard (68), England's John Parry (69) and Canada's Nick Taylor (70), the defending champion, are three strokes back.
Riley began the round with bogeys on two of the first three holes. He finished by playing the last seven holes in 4 under, including consecutive birdies on Nos. 14 (tap-in) and 15 (putt from 14 1/2 feet). He finished with a birdie on the last hole.
"We hadn't had really any competitive juices like this in a couple months," Riley said. "I definitely felt like I was forcing it a little bit early and trying to be a little perfect and I just felt a little tense."
Riley has won twice on the tour, but most recently in 2024 at the Charles Schwab Challenge.
Dealing with the windy conditions was again the main topic for many of the golfers.
"Just knowing it's not going to be easy and just really trying to stay patient and not get too far ahead of yourself because it can go sideways in a hurry right now," Gerard said.
The tricky part is that not all windy conditions seem the same.
"I know we played in the wind like this for the last couple days, but it's a slightly different direction, how much is it going to hurt, and you're always second guessing yourself," Parry said.
"Wind feels like it's coming in every direction and a lot of shots into the greens are kind of a guess," Roy said.
'STICK TO THE GAME PLAN'
Gotterup said his strategy won't change for the final round.
"Just stick to the game plan and keep my head screwed on straight and making sure I'm hitting good quality shots in this wind," he said.
Hall's lone bogey of the round came at No 15, but he responded with a birdie putt from just inside 10 feet on the next hole. Three of his birdies came with putts from beyond 12 feet as he emerged alone atop the leaderboard by the time he completed his round.
"Hitting the ball where I'm looking and doing well judging the wind tee to green," Hall said. "Did a lot better job today of making some putts."
Hall could be in line for a top 10 finish in the tournament for the second year in a row, so the course generally sets up well for him.
"I think if you keep it in play, there is lots of wedges," he said. "That's the bread and butter of my game, inside 150 and putting lights out."
The best rounds of the day were turned in by Canada's Corey Conners and Japan's Hideki Matsuyama with 65s. Conners moved to 8 under, while Matsuyama is at 6 under.
Canada's Adam Svensson shot 67 on Saturday, putting him at 8 under. His eagle on No 9 allowed him to soar up the leaderboard early in the round.
That was a nice distraction from coping with the wind.
"It's just a long day. Every shot you got to grind over it," Svensson said. "... It's mentally tough as well because you're standing over a shot and it's blowing 25 off your left and you got to hit it solid," he said. "If not, you're not going to get it to the hole or the wind is going to take the ball."
South Korea's S.H. Kim (72) was among the co-leaders entering the day and dropped back
Of the five golfers sharing the lead after Friday's second round, Belgium's Adrien Dumont de Chassart (73) had the biggest decline – all the way to a tie for 13th despite an eagle on the par-5 18th.
Fiji's Vijay Singh, who at age 62 became the oldest player to make a cut on the PGA Tour in nearly three years, moved up with a 68, putting him at 4 under for the tournament.