Jeff Overton didn’t have the best round of the day, but his 6-under 64 was good enough to move him 30 spots up the leaderboard into a tie for sixth going into today’s final round of the Sony Open in Hawaii.

His 54-hole total of 11-under 199 puts him five shots off the pace of leaders Zac Blair and Brandt Snedeker. He gained no ground on Blair, but did pick up two shots on 36-hole leader Snedeker, who settled for a 66 on Saturday. In nine previous appearances here, Overton has a pair of top-10 finishes and will be looking for another one today. He has earned a little more than $500,000 at this event.

“It was an awesome day,” Overton said. “It could have been really good. I just left a few out there, but it was fun. Hitting it good and making some putts. If I got them to the hole, it seemed like a lot of them were going in.”

Overton went long at the 18th and had his second shot bounce off the railing of the grandstand and back on the course. Overton used a 2-iron on the errant shot that led to a bogey on one of the easier holes at Waialae Country Club.

“I mean, it was OK,” Overton said. “I just didn’t accelerate through the chip (his third shot). It was just one of those things you have to listen to your instinct, and should have hit that big high cut. But whatever. We didn’t do it and tomorrow is another day.”

Dufner makes some noise

Jason Dufner was another in a long line of golfers who took advantage of the calm conditions that persisted for most of the day. After starting his round at 6 under, Dufner carded nine birdies en route to a 65 that left him at 11 under and five shots off the pace.

He needed every one of those birdies to offset a double at the par-4 second, and two more bogeys at Nos. 6 and 16. Dufner is working through a swing change, so he is not yet result oriented.

“I’ve been playing pretty good the last couple of days,” Dufner said. “I got off to a slow start, but I wasn’t too worried about it because I knew I was playing good. I had made eight birdies over my last 13 holes. I’m just not really focused on results right now, just more into the process, and whatever the results add up to is what they add up to.”

Keep an eye on Gomez

Argentina’s Fabian Gomez is doing a pretty good job his first two weekends in Hawaii. Last week on Maui, Gomez tied for sixth at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, and he enters today’s final round of the Sony Open alone in fifth, four shots back.

This is his fourth time to play the Sony Open. His best finish is a tie for 67th.

“Really good putting today,” Gomez said. “I felt really good when I putted. On hole No. 6, I sunk one from the bunker. I’m just going to go out there and make as many birdies as I can to get the lead.”

Inside the numbers

Much like at last week’s Hyundai Tournament of Champions, the scoring average has improved each day at the Sony Open as well.

The first round, the 144 golfers in the field shot 68.833 and went down to 68.465 at the conclusion of Friday’s second round. The 87 golfers who teed it up on Saturday went lower still to 68.368. The cumulative total for all three rounds is a blistering 68.584.

There was a cutdown after Saturday’s round and it came at 4-under 206, leaving 74 golfers to play on in today’s final round. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III shot a 71 Saturday to miss the cut by one. Vijay Singh (73—205) and Fred Funk (71—206) will play on today before joining Love at next week’s season-opening Champions Tour event on the Big Island.

Those 13 golfers not playing on today will fall into the Made Cut Did Not Finish category. They won’t play, but will earn a check for last place.