Every time Scott Langley and Russell Henley passed one of the Sony Jumbotrons on the Waialae Country Club course Saturday, the screen flashed, "Did you know (Langley/Henley) is a rookie on the PGA Tour?"

If not for the digital reminders it would have been hard to tell.

Because, invariably, it seemed, one or the other — if not both of the 23-year-olds — made a birdie on the Jumbotron holes.

Which is a big reason why they share the 54-hole lead heading into today’s final round of the Sony Open in Hawaii at 17-under-par 193, good for a three-shot edge over third-place Tim Clark.

No PGA Tour rookie has debuted with a tournament victory since Garrett Willis at Tucson in 2001. But, then, some in the Waialae gallery asserted that the so-called "kids" — Langley and Henley, who, between them, have led the tournament since first round, should no longer be considered first-timers for the way they have tamed the 7,044-yard course.

Indeed, when Langley birdied the 13th hole, a shout of "He’s not a rookie anymore!" went up from a group of University of Illinois buddies who made the trip from Champaign-Urbana. Thereafter, each good shot was greeted by shouts of "Chief!" a reference to Chief Illiniwek, mascot and official symbol of the school.

"We came (to the Sony) to see him play, but we had no idea he’d be leading the tournament," said Justin Kirby. "He was good at Illinois, but …"

Langley has played in the PGA Tour’s first full-field event of the year with all the poise that he had in winning the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Same game, just different — and bigger — stage. You’d hardly know a $1,008,000 purse is riding on it for the winner so impervious were Langley and Henley to the pressure of play or the growing galleries.

Early on, galleries urged them on and counseled the pair to, "hang loose" and "go for it!"

The encouragement was hardly necessary, so at ease and in rhythm were the pair of self-described "good buddies."

For example, Langley calmly shrugged off a bogey on the sixth hole, then came back with birdies on three of the next four.

"Hawaii is so nice, it’s relaxing," Langley said. "If we get nervous at all, I just take a peek right out there (at the ocean) and kind of get away from everything for a second and it helps me to kind of regroup and just settle myself down a little bit."

Henley, meanwhile, hasn’t had a bogey since Thursday’s opening round. And hasn’t felt his feet touch the ground all week.

"This is kind of like a dream," Henley admitted."It’s weird. It’s like I’m not awake. It’s just kind of very weird."

"When I get on the tee, I feel pretty confident in my golf swing and confident that I know where the ball is going to (go)," Langley said. "So, no, I’m not afraid of making any mistakes. I’m just playing golf like I always do."

When Langley finished his post-round interview session in the media room, he hurried off to dinner, forgetting his sunglasses and PGA Tour badge under the chair.

Henley followed him to the stage and quickly discovered the missing items. Then, Henley shook his head in mock disgust and bellowed in the direction of the departed Langley, "Rookie mistake!"

It was one of the few either made all day.