HONOLULU: Hayden Buckley made an eagle from 133 yards at 10th hole. He also did it the easy way, at 27 inches at 18th hole. This was his second consecutive 64 and he is now at 15 under par. David Lipsky (66), Ben Taylor (65) and Chris Kirk (68), are two back, while Si Woo Kim (64) is at 12 under and Andrew Putnam (62) will be going into Sunday three behind. His first PGA TOUR win was in his sights so the question was asked: When was Buckley last out at a restaurant to get recognized as a professional golfer. Buckley said, “Probably never”, as he got married in the offseason and barely touched any clubs. “Doesn’t happen much. “I’m enjoying it while I can.” Lipsky, England’s Taylor, will also be celebrating their first win Sunday. Kirk, 37, is a four-time PGA TOUR champion, most recently winning the Crowne Plaza Invitational in Colonial. Kirk was also part of the U.S. Presidents Cup team in South Korea that won the 2015 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. These experiences will give him an advantage. He said, “I don’t know, probably not.” “If I had won three week ago, maybe. But it’s been quite a while. It’s something I know, but it’s hard to do. He said, “But I like where I am at.” I like how my golf game feels. I love the place and feel very at home here, so I’m looking forward to playing against those who haven’t yet won. They are all probably fifteen years younger than I am.” Kirk has four top-10 finishes, including two runners-up finishes at Sony. He has also recorded 13 rounds of 65+ since 2011, which is more than any other person. He should also like his position because four of the five Sony winners came from two strokes back. Putnam, who was the second-longest active streak of TOUR players (Jon Rahm 20), made his 13th consecutive cut at the Sony. He lives in Tacoma Washington and has not experienced the best winter weather so he prepared to go on one island trip. He went to Cuba last month with his friends, who assist residents in starting small businesses. He brought his clubs and played three rounds at Varadero golf club. He said, “It’s an excellent course.” “Unfortunately, they had an enormous fire and all the mowers were burned, so there was $7 million of damage just before we arrived. They probably had only one or two mowers across the entire island. They have to hand-mow the entire course every night.” Putnam was 2 over through four holes on Saturday. He made six consecutive birdies, and finished his round with three more. He made just 24 putts on the greens, and he only took 167 feet. He was ranked No. He ranked No.1 in Strokes Gained: The round’s putting. He is also the top in the field for that metric for this week, having putted over 400 feet. This is an important metric at the Sony. Every Sony winner has been ranked among the top 10 in Strokes Gained: Plating since 2010. Si Woo Kim shot a round-three 64. He said that Justin Thomas’ singles win at the Presidents Cup last autumn helped him believe in himself. Kim said that his game was a little down at the end, but that it gave him momentum. He shot a 61 at Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational in Hawaii not long ago. As a senior at Missouri, he realized he may have what it takes to be able to play professionally on the PGA TOUR. He said, “It kinda woke me up to where I realized that this is something I could earn a living doing.” “… This was Buckley’s first PGA TOUR win, his 40th. He is a newly married man who moved to Jupiter, Florida from Fort Myers, Florida in the fall. He has only spent three days in Jupiter, and has not had the time to look for a place to play. Someone suggested that he might have to fight the clubs. He said, “Hope so.” That would be awesome.
By: Cameron Morfit
Title: Hayden Buckley eyes first title at Sony Open in Hawaii
Sourced From: www.pgatour.com/news/2023/01/14/hayden-buckley-eyes-first-title-at-sony-open-in-hawaii.html
Published Date: Sat, 14 Jan 2023 16:00:00 -0500
![Hayden Buckley eyes first title at Sony Open in Hawaii](https://jordanspieth.org/wp-content/uploads/67-3-scaled.jpg)
Leave a Reply