Jason Day will draw inspiration from the equal-lowest final round of his career in a bid to overcome an eight-shot deficit at the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.
World No.1 Day battled a misfiring putter as he slipped back to be tied 13th with a third-round three-under-par 70 on Kapalua's Plantation course on Saturday.
Jason Day battled a misfiring putter.Credit:Getty Images
American Justin Thomas shot a 67 to reach 18 under and lead by two shots from red-hot world No.6 Hideki Matsuyama, who has won four of his past five tournaments.
But Day shares the course record at Kapalua – an 11-under 62 he shot during the final round in 2015 when he soared to finish runner-up to Patrick Reed.
The 29-year-old said he would probably need to replicate that effort.
"I'm going to have to," Day said.
"If I can have a decent go on the greens, I can shoot a low one."
After three months on the sideline undergoing rehabilitation for a lower back injury that prematurely ended his 2016 season, Day put his rusty putting down to paralysis by analysis.
"I've probably gone towards too many technical thoughts over the ball, and that's probably why I'm missing them," he said.
"I need to get back to what I was doing last year.
"It's been a pretty decent week from tee to green after having three months off. I've given myself opportunities out there – I just haven't taken them."
Day is the leading Australian at the 32-man event for last year's tour winners, with veterans Rod Pampling (72) at seven under and Greg Chalmers (70) a shot back. Aaron Baddeley (74) is well back in a share of 28th with a two-under total.
Defending champion and world No.5 Jordan Spieth will start the final round 10 shots back of compatriot Thomas, only a year after gapping the field with a 30-under par total for an eight-shot victory.
Since the 2016 Tour Championship in September, Thomas is the only player to have beaten Matsuyama in any event – at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia in November, when the Japanese star was runner-up.
"He's obviously a tremendous player and he's on an unbelievable run the last five events," Thomas said.
AAP