KAPALUA, Maui >> Brooks Koepka is another in a long line of 20-somethings finding his way quickly onto the PGA Tour.

Known in the inner circles of professional golf for his ability to go long off the tee, the 25-year-old out of Florida State found his putting stroke during Saturday’s third round of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions and played his way into contention entering today’s closing 18 with a stunning 63.

He will be in the final pairing with leader Jordan Spieth. That’s the good news for Koepka, who qualified for this tournament with his win in Phoenix. The bad news is he trails the world’s No. 1 golfer by five and will likely have to go crazy low again today to have any chance of catching the talented Texan.

“Yeah, obviously it was really good,” Koepka said, bringing laughter from the reporters in the room. “I know what it feels like to be Jordan Spieth now, I guess, shooting 10 under every round.

“But I played really good. I felt like the way I drove the ball was really good, the iron play, I flagged it all day. It was just a stripe show. That’s the only thing I can say. I didn’t miss a golf shot until 18. Which was kind of embarrassing because that was kind of funny. But I played really well, and I putted it nice. Speed was a little bit off yesterday, so just had to adjust to that, but I’m pretty pleased.”

Spieth came into the press room about a half-hour after Koepka posted his score. When told what Koepka said about shooting 10 under all the time like Spieth, the Dallas native returned the light-hearted dig in true understated Spieth fashion.

“Well, since Brooks said it, it makes me feel bad, because he was joking and making fun of me,” Spieth said, then smiled. “But I’ll tell you what, with an equipment change, it’s really impressive, first tournament week, that Brooks is doing what he’s doing.

“It shows the caliber of player he is. It’s a good Brooks Koepka golf course here. He hits it long, he hits it straight, he’s good on Bermuda, and he’s aggressive putting. You need to be that here. To hear that, to answer your question, it’s hard for me to answer. Again, I’m pretty sure he was just joking.”

The equipment switch was no joke for Koepka, who praised his new Nike golf ball again and again for holding its line in the tricky Kona winds. But as well as he strikes the ball off the tee — he is tied for fourth this year on tour, averaging 315.8 yards off the tee box — it was his putting that was the big difference.

He needed only 26 strokes with the flat stick and was first in strokes gained putting, tied for first in scrambling and fifth in strokes gained tee to green. So far this year, he is 169th in strokes gained putting, giving you an idea that changing equipment at this point might be just what he needed.

“Believe it or not, with this new Nike ball, this RZN Platinum that we’re playing, it doesn’t move in the wind,” Koepka said “It’s unbelievable. From the driver to the irons, the ball doesn’t move in the wind. Crosswinds, it just doesn’t move. And it’s nice to see in high winds the ball do what it did today. Obviously it was tougher. I was controlling my flights and everything like that, but the way it was going was unbelievable.”