Tournament Notes and Quotes:
(Note: Final round tee times have moved up because of weather)
Brendan Steele shot a career-low, (61), and holds the outright 54-hole lead for the second straight year at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Steele led Cameron Smith by three strokes entering the final round in 2020 before losing in a playoff.
Should Steele win today, he would become the first player to lose a playoff and win the same event the following season since Ryuji Imada (2008 AT&T Classic).
After equaling his career-low round with a bogey-free 9-under (61), Kevin Na (T-2) is now tied with Brandt Snedeker and Justin Thomas for the most rounds of 61 or better since 2010 (Total of 4).
The 66.66 scoring average Saturday was the lowest single-round scoring average on the PGA Tour since the 2003 American Express (Indian Wells/66.28).
Important Programming Note: Due to anticipated heavy showers this afternoon in Hawaii, coupled with a poor forecast Monday, final-round tee times were moved up to 8:20–10:20am (local) and that’s 1:20pm-3:20pm (ET). The final round will air live on the Golf Channel from 4pm–8pm (ET).
Sergio Garcia, Kevin Kisner and Cameron Davis will tee-off at 1:20pm (ET) on No. 1 while Brice Garnett, Harris English and Sepp Straka head out from No. 10.
Sony Open in Hawaii Leaderboard
(After Third Round)
Brendan Steele 65-66-61—192 (-18)
Kevin Na 67-66-61—194 (-16)
Joaquin Niemann 62-69-63—194 (-16)
Full Leaderboard (link)
What They’re Saying:
Steele in Ideal Place to Make Amends (Golfweek/USA Today)
Steele is Two Strokes Ahead in Sony Open (Sky Sports)
Paradise Not Always Peaceful (Associated Press)
Redemption for Steele, Na, Niemann (PGA Tour com)
The Basics:
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedEXCup @SonyOpenHawaii #SonyOpenHawaii (Join us for some LIVE tweeting during the telecasts).
TV COVERAGE: (On GOLF CHANNEL) Sunday, January 17th (4:00pm-8:00pm ET).
PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: Sunday (Pregame at 3:00pm. Live coverage 5:00pm-to-finish (ET) - Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio or online via PGATour.com
Last Day for our 25% New Year’s 2021 Special Discount!
On This Day in Golf History:
January 17, 1995 - The Golf Channel, the 24-hour a day network devoted entirely to the sport of golf, made its debut after a ceremonial “flip of the switch” by golf legend and co-founder Arnold Palmer. The idea for the channel stemmed from entrepreneur Joseph Gibbs of Birmingham, Alabama, who thought of the channel in 1991. With the help of Palmer, they raised $80 million in financing to launch the network. (Courtesy Randy Walker), Author of On This Day in Golf History, available via Amazon.com and by clicking HERE
As a side note, Golf Channel was acquired by Comcast in 2001 and they merged it with NBC Sports in 2011.
Up Next:
The American Express is up next, scheduled for January 21-24, 2021 in LaQuinta, California as the tour departs from the great State of Hawaii and head to the USA’s West Coast.
Tournament site: (link)
Partin’ Putt
Sony Open in Hawaii Third Round Highlights