KAPALUA, Hawaii — Steve Stricker never looked comfortable at Kapalua until he walked off the Plantation Course with the same five-shot margin that he started with Sunday in the Tournament of Champions.
Right when he felt as if he was letting everyone back into the hunt, Stricker birdied his last four holes for a 4-under-par 69 that restored his cushion going into today’s finish in Maui.
Webb Simpson had a 30-foot birdie putt on the 14th hole for a share of the lead. He missed. Jonathan Byrd had a 4-foot birdie putt on the 16th for a share of the lead. He missed that one.
Stricker, after a two-putt birdie on the 15th, chipped in for birdie on the 16th hole, then knocked in short birdie putts on the last two holes.
He was at 19-under 200, five shots clear of defending champion Byrd (67), former Colorado State standout Martin Laird (67) and Simpson, who also had a 69 while playing in the final group with Stricker.
Through three rounds, Stricker is 13-under par on the five closing holes at the Plantation Course.
“I wasn’t making any birdies, and it seemed like everybody else was,” Stricker said. “I knew it was going to be tough. When you’re leading a golf tournament, it’s just hard to keep that momentum. When you’re not making birdies, you feel like you’re letting things slip away. I felt everyone was coming after me, and I was coming back to the pack.”
A game that had felt so easy Saturday when he shot 63 turned into a grind. That much became clear when he missed on the first easy birdie chance, the par-5 fifth where the second shot goes over a gorge. He played conservatively out to the left, then chose to chip from just off the putting surface and knocked it over the green, having to scramble for par.
Laird made four birdies on the front nine and made the turn in 12-under.
