Gary Woodland leads the field at the Sentry Tournament of Champions after three rounds in Hawaii. Woodland started the week with two rounds of 67 at the par-73 Kapalua Golf Club before carding a 68 on Saturday to take a 3-shot lead into Sunday.
Woodland’s game has been well-rounded this week as he leads the tournament in strokes gained: tee to green. His driving display and solid putting result in a 54-hole lead for the eighth time in his career. Woodland is one of only two players in the entire field to shoot three straight rounds in the 60s. The highlight of Woodland’s round came at the par 5 15th hole where he rolled in a lengthy eagle putt for the outright lead:
Gary Woodland for the deeeep three…
BANG ? pic.twitter.com/m09bklTw4t
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) January 6, 2019
The only other player in the field with three rounds in the 60s is Rory McIlroy. McIlroy is competing in the Tournament of Champions for the first time in his career after deciding to focus on the PGA Tour early in the calendar year rather than playing around the globe. He ultimately plans to lose his European Tour membership and only play two events on that tour this season.
McIlroy’s plans to stay around the United States are off on the right foot as he held a share of the lead for a moment on the back nine during Saturday’s round in the middle of a bogey-free 68 that landed McIlroy in the final group for the final round.
Bounce back rounds of the day
Six different players took advantage of moving day carding rounds in the 60s after a second round in the 70s on Friday. Most notably, Marc Leishman tied for the best round of the day shooting a 5-under 68 to move into solo third going into the final round. The Australian trails only Woodland in total birdies this week carding 18 over three rounds. Bryson DeChambeau and Xander Schauffele round out the top five heading into the first final round of 2019.
