Sony Open Round 3 Notebook: An Implodes, Woodland Improves and Putnam Surges at Waialae

The Sony Open is set up for a sprint to the finish as several players are bunched atop the leaderboard with 18 holes to play.

HONOLULU – Byeong Hun An shot a 4-under 66 in Saturday’s third round to get in the mix, six shots back for a Sunday shootout. But it could have been oh so much closer.

After turning a 5-under 30, An faced the third-easiest hole of the week, the par-4 10th.

An’s drive found the fairway, just 87 yards from the hole. An took seven more shots before walking to the 11th tee.

“I just hit it a little bit hard, was slightly into the wind, I just kind of hit it too much,” An said of his second shot that found the back of the green. “Went over the green, hit a decent lie, so I went for a little high soft one, but I didn't catch it how I wanted, and it went back down to the right.”

Ultimately it took An three attempts to extricate himself from the right rough before he got the ball on the green, 40 feet from the hole. He two-putted for a quad.

“I still had 26 holes to go after that, so I knew there's plenty of chances out there,” An said of how he kept his wits about him after the 10th. “I could have a low one tomorrow. I have a chance, I just got to keep myself in it somewhere around the top and you have three birdies coming in, that was nice.”

Woodland Getting Right

Jordan Spieth had a 11-shot differential between his first-round 64 and second-round 75.

Spieth looked shellshocked after the carnage that include six bogeys and left extremely disappointed, missing his first cut after leading or co-leading in the first round.

Gary Woodland was never in the golf tournament, shooting a 6-over 76 on Thursday, but the 65 on Friday made his trip back to the mainland more palatable than Spieth’s.

“I've had eight weeks off, and I've put a lot of work in and was very excited about showing up this week, and I was probably too excited,” Woodland said. “I drove the ball poorly both days, but I'm playing a lot better than what the score showed. Today (Friday) was better, obviously, but I'm playing a lot better than that.”

Woodland will spend some time with Coach Butch Harmon next week in Las Vegas before returning to the PGA Tour in San Diego.

“I'll be ready to go. It was probably a little too anxious,” Woodland said. “I just didn't do anything horrible yesterday. I just didn't do anything well, and it showed, but I'm not too worried about it, which has not been the case for a long time.”

Putnam’s Cuban Holiday

After playing eight events last fall, Andrew Putnam needed a Christmas break.

He made all eight cuts, and Putnam almost put a W on his resume with T2 alongside Rickie Fowler at the ZOZO, one shot behind winner Keegan Bradley. He's in contention again this week after a Saturday 62.

With more than a month off over the holidays, Putnam took a trip from Washington state to Cuba.

That’s right. Cuba.

“We just have some friends who are helping out some people there,” Putnam said of why he made the trip to the island in the Caribbean. “Just trying to support, obviously it's been tough for them with COVID and everything.”

So, Putnam took the family and of course his clubs. Yes, Cuba has a two golf courses, Varadero Golf Club, an 18-hole resort, and the 9-hole Havana Golf Club.

Varadero has a unique history, starting with the exceptional clubhouse built in 1927 by the DuPont family and named Xanadu by Irénée du Pont.

The course was eventually built in 1931 and over time unexpected changes would occur – from violent storms and later and by Canadian designer Les Furber.

“It's a good course. Unfortunately they had a huge fire, and all of the mowers were destroyed, so $7 million worth of damage right before we got there,” Putnam said. “I think they had one or two mowers on the whole island. I think they have hand mowed all through the night to get the course ready. Pretty sad.”

Stray Shots

- Leader Hayden Buckley holds first 54-hole lead/co-lead of his PGA TOUR career as he seeks first career Tour win.

- Hideki Matsuyama posted his 14th consecutive under-par round at the Sony Open in Hawaii, the longest active streak at the event.

- Two-time Sony Open runner-up (2014, 2021) Chris Kirk (T2) posted 2-under 68 after double-bogey start on No. 1; he seeks his fifth career Tour victory and first since the 2015 Charles Schwab Challenge.

- At 13-under 197, David Lipsky (T2) topped his previous-best low 54-hole score by four strokes (201/2022 AT&T Byron Nelson); he seeks his first career Tour win, as his current best finish is T4 at the 2022 Zurich Classic of New Orleans with partner Aaron Rai.

- 2019 Sony Open in Hawaii runner-up Andrew Putnam (T5) had a career-best 10 birdies in a round en route to 8-under 62, tying his career-low round on Tour, and he seeks his second career Tour victory, after the 2018 Barracuda Championship.