Justin Thomas broke the tournament record with a 12-under-par 61 in Saturday’s third round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
He stood there alone for about 90 minutes.
Playing in the last group, World No. 1 Jon Rahm made nine birdies and an eagle on his final 12 holes on the Plantation Course to also sign for a 61 and earn a share of the lead with Cameron Smith heading into the final round.
“We were both even-par through 4 and a combined, was it 21-under par between the two of us in the last 14 holes? Well, it’s golf and it’s this golf course, right?” Rahm said. “You get on the birdie train and things like today can happen. It’s the second 61 of the day and whatever it looks like, the 35th 9-under of the week as well, right?
“It’s definitely a doable golf course, but you still have to hit the shots, and come tomorrow we got to keep doing the same thing. We had a fun battle today and I’m guessing tomorrow’s going to be more of the same.”
On another windless, sunlit day at Kapalua, players obliterated par, and Rahm and Smith finished atop the leaderboard at 26 under; the two fell one shot shy of tying Patrick Reed’s 54-hole PGA Tour record for lowest score in relation to par.
A day after tying the 36-hole tournament scoring record of 17 under first set by Ernie Els in 2003, Smith shot 64 and still lost his overnight, three-shot lead.
Rahm has shot 66-66-61, Smith 65-64-64.
Twenty-nine of the 38 players in the field finished in the 60s in the third round. The field averaged 67.71, the lowest mark since the tournament moved to the Plantation Course in 1999.
“It was really good fun out there today,” Smith said. “Obviously playing nice golf helps. But watching Jon was pretty intense there on that back nine, some of the best golf I think I’ve ever seen, definitely some of the best putting.
“So, one more day. Hopefully we can do much of the same tomorrow and we’ll see what happens.”
The two are five shots clear of Daniel Berger, who shot 66 to move to 21 under.
Matt Jones matched the old tournament record with a 62 to move to 20 under; he was 8 under over his last seven holes. Also at 20 under are Patrick Cantlay (66) and Sungjae Im (65).
“So it was a very, you can’t say there was an easy 62 or 11-under, but it was one of the most comfortable rounds I’ve had out there for a long time,” Jones said.
Thomas now shares the record here in Maui and holds the record at the Sony Open in Hawaii, where he shot 59 in the first round en route to winning in 2017.
“I wasn’t crazy aggressive today,” Thomas said. “When you have wedges in your hand with soft greens, you attack.”
Also at 17 under is Hideki Matsuyama (68).
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Rahm and Smith are within striking distance of the tournament scoring record of 31 under set by Els in 2003. But the two both know this isn’t a two-man race to the finish.
“There’s such a low score out there you never know what can happen,” Smith said. “I mean, it’s very gettable, there’s so many wedges, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s another 61 or 62 out there tomorrow. Just need to keep playing good golf.”
Added Rahm: “If we get a similar a day someone can come and shoot 10, 11, 12-under. I think what I got to keep doing is just keep hitting it as well as I am tee to green. Keep putting it in the fairway and keep hitting good iron shots, give myself plenty of looks, and some of them will go in.
“You can get hot on this golf course and hopefully I can do the same thing tomorrow.”
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