Live leaderboard: New frontrunner in Round 3

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HONOLULU — Three shots behind with six holes to play, Kevin Na birdied three straight holes and finished with an up-and-down birdie from behind the 18th green for a 5-under 65 and a one-shot victory in the Sony Open in Hawaii. RELATED: Leaderboard | Winner’s Bag: Kevin Na, Sony Open in Hawaii Na won for the fifth time in his PGA TOUR career, and this one looked unlikely when he three-putted for bogey on the 12th hole at a time where there was no room for mistakes. He answered with birdie putts of 15, 10 and 6 feet, and the winning shot was out of the right rough on the par-5 closing hole at Waialae and ran just over the back of the green. He chipped to tap-in range for his last birdie. Na finished one shot ahead of Joaquin Niemann and Chris Kirk, and only one of them got a consolation prize. Niemann chipped in for birdie from 55 feet on the par-3 17th and got up-and-down with a long bunker shot on the 18th hole for a 66. Even so, he was runner-up for the second straight week in Hawaii. The 22-year-old from Chile was 45-under par in two events without a trophy to show for it. Kirk closed with his fourth straight round of 65 — that wasn’t enough to win on a soft Waialae with no wind — and his tough pitch from below the 18th for birdie proved to be massive. Kirk stepped away from golf in May 2019 citing alcoholism and depression. He was given a medical extension to make up for lost time, and this was the final event for him to regain full status. Needing nearly 150 FedExCup points at the Sony Open in Hawaii, his tie for second was worth 245 points. As for Brendan Steele, it was another year of disappointment in paradise, this one more of a slow leak. Steele last year had a two-shot lead with two to play and wound up losing in a playoff. This time, he made an 18-foot eagle putt on the ninth hole to take a three-shot lead into the back nine. He three-putted the easy 10th hole from nearly 80 feet, and his game was so tentative the rest of the way that he didn’t have a birdie chance inside 30 feet until the 17th hole. That was from 10 feet to tie for the lead, and he missed that. Steele also failed to birdie the 18th and closed with a 69. Na won for the fourth consecutive season, and he attributed the late surge to being happy at home with his wife and two children. He looked comfortable even when the Sony Open in Hawaii appeared to be slipping away. Once he made the 15-footer on the 13th hole, he started walking them in. “I knew there was a lot of birdie holes left,” Na said. “I was having fun out there.” Webb Simpson matched the low score of the final round with a 64 and tied for fourth along with Steele and Marc Leishman, who shot 30 on the back nine. Na finished at 21-under 259 and is assured of returning to Hawaii for two weeks next year, starting with the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua. That course can be too big for him. Waialae proved to be a perfect fit.

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida – The PGA TOUR and Getty Images, a preeminent global visual content creator and marketplace, today announced an extension of their marketing agreement that positions Getty Images as the “Official Photographic Services Provider of the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions and the Korn Ferry Tour”. As part of the renewed partnership, Getty Images will continue as the exclusive commercial photo supplier and provide the TOUR, its players, tournaments, business partners and global media access to its vast collection of golf imagery. The collaboration will expand to include coverage of every PGA TOUR Champions and Korn Ferry Tour event along with doubling the number of photographers onsite at PGA TOUR events, adding Wednesdays to the typical Thursday through Sunday coverage days. “We are excited to expand our relationship with Getty Images to utilize their outstanding photographic services,” said Brian Oliver, PGA TOUR Executive Vice President Marketing & Corporate Partnerships. “Since 2005, Getty Images has proven its ability to capture all the great moments on TOUR along with the personality and uniqueness of our players. They do a tremendous job of capturing our players and the excitement of the competition every week on the PGA TOUR.” Getty Images features one of the most significant image collections in golf through its extensive coverage of related events including the DP World Tour, the LPGA Tour, the PGA Championship, the Ryder Cup, The Presidents Cup and the Masters. The company’s vast image library offers an estimated 2 million images featuring some of the sport’s most iconic moments played by its greatest players across legendary courses. In 2022, Getty Images’ photographer David Cannon became the second recipient of the PGA of America Lifetime Achievement Award in Photojournalism, recognizing the vital role that photography has in chronicling the rich history of golf. “We have been capturing celebrated moments in golf along with our partners at PGA TOUR for the better part of two decades and are excited for the next chapter of this collaboration,” said Peter Orlowsky, Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships for Getty Images. “Through our roster of award-winning sports photographers, we bring a wealth of expertise and resources to photograph and distribute the game of golf and continue to meet the demand for compelling sports imagery from our global customers.” Founded in 1995, Getty Images was the first photographic agency to partner with the world’s leading sport governing bodies and continues to partner with many of the most significant sports leagues and governing bodies in the world. Today, Getty Images is the official photographer or photographic partner to over 80 of the world’s leading sports governing bodies, leagues, and clubs, including the PGA Tour, F1, FIFA, the International Olympic Committee, International Cricket Council, Major League Baseball, UEFA, National Hockey League, NASCAR, PGA of America, NBA, USOC, National Collegiate Athletic Association, Manchester United, FC Bayern Munich and Ultimate Fighting Championship. Getty Images’ complete PGA TOUR collection can be viewed online at www.gettyimages.com.

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