KAPALUA, Maui >> Massive fairways, large greens and low scores.
The Plantation Course at Kapalua has its share of unique holes that make golf fun when the wind isn’t blowing and a pain when it is.
Fortunately for the 39 golfers who teed it up this week in the Sentry Tournament of Champions, the winds have stayed away, and the scores have shown exactly that.
None of the 38 players remaining after Xander Schauffele withdrew with a back injury are over par and Max Homa proved a massive jump up the leaderboard is possible after shooting a tournament-best 10-under 63 on Saturday to jump from a tie for 27th to a tie for seventh at 16 under par.
It was his first time shooting 10 under in his PGA Tour career.
“I didn’t make any mistakes throughout the day, as far as like kind of the dumb mistakes,” he said. “Bogeys here and there are going to happen. But it felt like the first two days — yesterday I was absolutely grooving, hadn’t missed a shot and then I kind of half-topped one on 9 trying to hit a low one and made double.”
With tee times moved up two hours for the weekend, it was an earlier wake-up call for Homa, who teed off at 8:25 a.m. with Justin Thomas.
Both players birdied four holes on the opening nine without making bogey, and Thomas made a fifth birdie on No. 10.
The 2017 and ’20 winner at Kapalua, Thomas couldn’t keep up with Homa after that, falling back to the pack with bogeys on Nos. 12 and 15.
Homa, who hasn’t bogeyed since hitting his second shot into the native area for a penalty on 17 on Friday, strung together five consecutive birdies on Nos. 12-16 and finished with a tap-in for birdie on 18 after just missing an eagle putt from 14 feet.
“The ball went in the hole today. I hadn’t really made anything until maybe the back nine yesterday,” Homa said. “I don’t know how to really explain it. I didn’t feel like I played four shots better than my last two days combined, but I did. So it’s just not a very good game for your mind. But it was nice to shoot 10 under.”
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Homa said he was more aggressive with his putts and had a better feel for the greens.
“My stroke feels great. Been putting great at home,” he said. “I putt fine in the mornings. It’s just when you get out there it’s just so different. But I had a lot more putts that just felt comfortable. I did a great job making those, but it was just nice to have a few.”
Homa can sleep in a little later today, teeing off at 10:10 a.m. with Sungjae Im.
Spaun continues to hang in
J.J. Spaun’s first four-day stroll around the Plantation Course will end today with a spot in the second-to-last group.
Playing with Scottie Scheffler, who would move to No. 1 in the world by finishing in a two-way-tie for third or better, Spaun will look to cash in on one of the bigger paychecks of his career after shooting his third consecutive round in the 60s — a 4-under 69.
Spaun lost four shots to leader Collin Morikawa despite making seven birdies in his round. Bogeys on Nos. 13 and 15 kept him from the final pairing of the day with the tournament leader.
“It was kind of a blurry day,” Spaun said. “I think the thing that worked the most for me was I didn’t make too many mistakes — except for one hole on 15, but it was just a tough shot. Made a poor choice there.”
Spaun has continued to excel on a course he had never played before earning the Kapalua invite by winning the Valero Texas Open.
“Maybe a little surprised that it’s my first time here and just kind of, I feel like there’s a lot of nuances here that you kind of learn the more you play here,” he said. “So to be able to kind of do pretty good for three rounds, yeah, I’m a little surprised, but I think the game is there.”
Im hits a bomb to shoot 65
Sungjae Im sunk one of the longest putts of the season on Saturday when his putt from 63 feet, 9 inches went in for eagle on the par-5 fifth.
Im shot a bogey-free 65 to sit in a tie for seventh place at 16 under.
Since the beginning of 2019, Im has shot 34 rounds of 65 or better on the PGA Tour. Only Justin Thomas and Webb Simpson have more, with 37 each.
