KAPALUA, Maui » Bubba Watson has been in Hawaii for so long, he will be a kamaaina by the time he and his family depart for the mainland on Tuesday.

Arriving a day after New Year’s, Watson has played the Plantation Course nearly every day since in hopes of improving his play on the West Maui tract. And while that has happened somewhat — each day he has gone one stroke lower than the day before — the man with the pink driver is still struggling with the speed of the greens, leaving many putts short of their mark.

The No. 4-ranked player in the world shot a 68 — his best ever here — on Sunday to remain in sight of the leaders at 12-under 207. Tied for seventh and five shots back, Watson will have to go way low on Monday to win the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

"You know, it’s a good start to the year," Watson said. "I’m improving every day, so looking forward to the challenge. If you’re here in Maui, it’s always a good week."

Watson needed only 27 putts Sunday after 29 on Saturday and 31 on Friday. He’s averaging 308.1 yards off the tee over 54 holes and has landed in 29 of 45 fairways, tied for 29th in the field of 34. With those kind of combined numbers on the tees and greens, he’s gotten the most out of his rounds.

"You always leave stuff out there," Watson said. "You never have a good round unless you make 18 birdies. But I played well. Your imagination can run wild out here, but a couple of tee shots are tough.

"I like to see my landing area. I like to see the — you’re going to say artist, you’re going to say the canvas. I like to see the canvas that I can shape the shot into, and 18 for example is tough for me because I can’t see it. It’s just a big field out there."

Youth will be served

Five of the top six players on the leaderboard heading into the final round are in their 20s. The lone exception is old man Jimmy Walker, who is 35. He is tied for the lead with Hideki Matsuyama, who will be 23 next month. If Matsuyama wins, he would be the youngest since the event moved here in 1999. Tiger Woods won this event when it was in California at age 21 in 1997.

There are 12 first-timers here trying to learn the difficult layout, including Matsuyama. Brendon Todd is tied for fifth, Robert Streb is tied for seventh and Ben Martin and Matt Jones are tied for 11th among the 34 golfers competing in this winners-only event.

Stadler withdraws

Kevin Stadler came to Maui knowing he had a fractured bone in his left wrist, but played through it the first two days of the event. He withdrew before Sunday’s third round, leaving Tim Clark playing by himself. Clark must have liked it. He shot a 6-under 67.

Despite the early departure, Stadler will receive $54,000 for making an appearance. It will not be official money and he will not receive any FedEx Cup points. Stadler knew something was wrong in November after pulling out of the HSBC Champions in November.

Under doctor’s advice, he didn’t touch a club for nearly two months, but decided Sunday not to keep playing because of the pain. Stadler qualified for this event by finishing first in Phoenix. He plans to return to the tour next week at the Humana Challenge.

Inside the numbers

The scoring average of 70.394 was only a shade higher than the 70.353 the players managed on Saturday. Four golfers had bogey-free rounds, including Walker and Patrick Reed. The other two were Hunter Mahan and FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel.

The easiest hole was the par-5 18th for the first time this week. The fifth hole held that distinction in the opening two rounds. The scoring average at 18 was 4.333 with 22 birdies and 11 pars.

Thanks to the wind shift, the opening hole was the most difficult at 4.273. There were only four birdies at this long par-4, 17 pars, 11 bogeys and one double.

SUNDAY’S THIRD-ROUND SCORES

Hyundai Tournament of Champions
At Kapalua Resort
The Plantation Course
Purse: $5.7 million
Yardage: 7,452
Par 73