Thomas leads by seven as Kisner flirts with a 59

Justin Thomas is doing just about everything right at the Sony Open as he fired a bogey-free five-under 65 in the third round yesterday morning (Singapore time) to extend his lead to seven strokes.

A day after setting the US PGA Tour's 36-hole scoring record, Justin Thomas continued to roll at the Waialae Country Club course in Honolulu.

Thomas reached 22-under 188 to equal the lowest 54-hole total in PGA Tour history.

"I felt like I managed my day really well to shoot five under," Thomas said. "I was really happy to be bogey free. That was a big goal of mine. I had a couple of saves, I was putting the ball in position off the tee."

With a rare 59 on Thursday and a 64 on Friday, Thomas had a seemingly insurmountable seven-shot lead over fellow American Zach Johnson, who shot a third-round 66 to claim second place at 195.

HISTORY

No player in the history of the PGA Tour ever lost a seven-shot lead on the final day.

Hudson Swafford and England's Justin Rose each posted a 66 to tie for third place at 196 with Gary Woodland (68).

Former world No. 1 Jordan Spieth shot a 66 to sit alone in ninth place, 10 shots adrift of Thomas.

Thomas is off to one of the most impressive starts in PGA Tour history.

A victory this morning would give him three wins in his last four starts and make him the first golfer since Ernie Els in 2003 to win the Tournament of Champions and the Sony Open back-to-back.

"I have to get a good night's rest and come out here and do it again," Thomas said.

American Kevin Kisner fell agonisingly short of emulating Thomas' 59 feat when he narrowly missed an eagle putt on his final hole.

Kisner watched as his attempt from 10 feet slid past the right edge of the cup at the par-five ninth and he then tapped in for a birdie to card a career-best 60 to jump from 13th to a tie for sixth at 197.

BID

"I hit two great shots (on the ninth hole) and had a great look at it," Kisner told Golf Channel about his bid to become only the eighth player to break 60 on the US circuit.

"Just a little bit of a misread, I guess. I hit a good putt, I looked up and I thought it was going dead middle, but it didn't break." - WIRE SERVICES