KAPALUA >> World No. 4 Jon Rahm is making the most of his first tour of duty on the Plantation Course.

One of the bright young stars dotting the PGA Tour landscape, Rahm was paired with past Sentry Tournament of Champions winner Jordan Spieth and went from a tie for 13th to alone in third with a 7-under 66 Saturday in only his third round at the Plantation Course.

He trails frontrunner Dustin Johnson by four shots and will probably need a little help to begin 2018 with a win. In his mind, if he gets off to a quick start, maybe he can put a little pressure on the world’s best player and make another run.

“Boy, I do enjoy it (facing off with Johnson), but the outcome hasn’t been great for me,” Rahm said. “Hopefully I can play well down the stretch like I’ve been doing, like I said, just start a little better on the front nine. Not like today was bad (after parring the first four) — bogey-free, 2 under is a great score. But I mean if I can make a birdie before I get to 5 it will be … I’ll be happy.”

Rahm was only 5 under after his first 36 holes and trailed first- and second- round leader Marc Leishman by five shots. He was so out of sorts, he called his mental coach, who settled down the excitable Spaniard.

A big birdie at the par-5 fifth set the golf ball in the right motion. He was 7 under over his closing 14 holes and was suddenly in contention. By comparison, Spieth was also 5 under to start the third round and managed only a 3-under 70 to tie for ninth eight shots back.

Rahm said he enjoyed playing with Spieth. Both do a lot of talking during their rounds.

“I don’t think there are two guys who speak to the ball more than we do,” Rahm said. “It’s true. It’s fun because we both react similarly when we hit a shot. It’s great. To be honest, I feel like we reversed the roles a little bit today. I made all the putts I had to make, I played really good golf.

“And the last time I played with Jordan it was quite the opposite. I was the one struggling to hit good shots and nothing happening. But we all know how good he is and what he’s capable of and it was a really fun day, and hopefully we get to play again.”

Rickie hits a low number — again

Rickie Fowler was the sentimental favorite coming into this week’s first PGA Tour event of 2018. A month ago, he won Tiger Woods’ Hero Challenge in the Bahamas, and he has been striking the ball pretty well this week, too.

He begins today’s final round tied for fourth with Jason Dufner at 11 under, five shots off the pace. His stylish aloha shirt on Thursday was all the rage, and despite a ho-hum round of 71 on Friday, Fowler bounced back with a 5-under 68 that included a par at the 18th. His 6-footer for birdie just missed the cup to move him into a tie for third with Rahm. Both will be in the next-to-last pairing today.

“Yeah, it was a good solid day,” Fowler said. “I missed a somewhat short one on 5 for a birdie early in the round. Kind of started off slowly, a bunch of pars, but it was nice to birdie 9. I played solidly on the back nine and, yeah, it would have been nice to have the one on 18 go in, but I feel like we put ourselves in a decent position for tomorrow.”

His final round at Tiger’s event was a blistering 60, something reporters alluded to after he came out of the scoring tent, but Fowler smiled and shook his head at the suggestion he could do it again.

“(Shooting) 60 will be tough here,” Fowler said. “I mean, with a par 73, there would be a few more things that would need to happen. But I think we’re going to be closer to the lead than we were at Hero. So we gave ourselves a shot going into Sunday, and any tournament you go to, that’s the position you want to be in, to have a chance to win on Sunday.”

Bones goes back to work

PGA champion Justin Thomas is using a television on-course reporter to caddie for him next week in Honolulu while his regular caddie recovers from a foot injury.

But not just any TV reporter.

He said he’ll be using Jim “Bones” Mackay at the Sony Open. Mackay spent 25 years with Phil Mickelson until they parted ways last summer. Mackay now works for NBC and Golf Channel walking the course. He was with the Dustin Johnson pairing on Saturday at Kapalua.

Thomas’ regular caddie, Jimmy Johnson, has been dealing with plantar fasciitis and a tear for the past few months. He was in a boot for 10 days before arriving at Kapalua, but the severe terrain has taken a toll. He likely will be in a protective boot for at least a month. Thomas’ father, Mike, caddied for his son on Saturday.

Inside the numbers

Despite the blustery conditions, the scores continued to go low, with an 18-hole average of 71.412, a half-stroke higher than Friday’s best round by the 34 golfers in the field. The hardest hole was the par-4 10th with a scoring average of 4.412. There were no birdies, 23 pars, eight bogeys and three double bogeys for the day.

The easiest hole was the par-5 18th with a scoring average of 4.559. There were no eagles, 17 birdies, 16 pars and one double bogey in the third round. Jhonattan Vegas had his second shot at the par-5 lip out for an albatross. He had about a 10-footer for eagle that he missed, settling for birdie. At 10 under for the tourney, he is six shots back.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.