World number 115 is a surprise leader heading into the final round of the Sony Open following a third round 65 which saw him lead a host of players by one stroke.
Looking to land a second career PGA title, Spaun will need another big day if he is to keep ahead of the chasing pack in what is bound to be an action packed final round. Here are some things to keep an eye on during the final round.
Can J.J Spaun hold his nerve and get 2025 off to a fast start?
In this new modern age of golf where some of the game’s best players are now playing on the LIV Tour or others are simply waiting for the bigger tournaments to come, 2024 saw a host of surprise winners and it could be that 2025 follows that trend.
Although the Sony Open saw some of the very best players in the game opt to give this week a miss, a high quality field was still very much in attendance for one of the most loved tournaments on the PGA Tour calendar.
Heading into the final round and that trend of shocks could well continue as world number 115 J.J Spaun has a great chance to kick off his year in style and bag a second PGA title.
A former winner of the Texas Open back in 2021, Spaun finished third at the 2024 Wyndham Championship last year and has a string of top five finishes to his name, but the wins have been few and far between.
Formerly ranked as high as 61 in the world, Spaun now resides outside of the top 100 but can get both his career and ranking moving in the right direction once again with a strong finish to this year’s Sony Open.
After opening up his tournament with two rounds of 66, he went one stroke better in the third round when posting an impressive round of 65. It could have been even better had he not bogeyed two of his final four holes.
Although he finds himself in not too familiar territory, he will hope to use his past winning experience to good effect here and put up a fight to the finish. He will hope Sunday will end with his first title in almost four years.
Trio only a shot behind
As can often be the way in tournaments like the Sony Open, the relatively accessible scoring can lead to a bunched leaderboard and there are three players who will hope to chase Spaun down.
Eric Cole, Patrick Fishburn and Stephan Jaegar are all one shot behind the overnight leader and all three will harbour serious hopes of overhauling the leader today.
Cole is seeking his first ever PGA Tour victory with his closest effort coming back in 2023 when he recorded a duo of second place finishes. Since opening up his Sony Open campaign with a strong round of 64, two successive rounds of 67 have seen him remain in the hunt and he will hope that today can be the day where he finally gets over the line.
Fishburn is another player who has come close to winning a PGA Tour title in the past but as of yet has yet to close out the deal and is another who will hope to change the trajectory of his career over the next 18 holes.
Two opening rounds of 65 couldn’t be bettered yesterday with the wily American having to settle for a round of 68. Needing to get the flat stick firing, his chances can’t be discounted as he seeks his first PGA title.
Of the chasing trio the one player who has winning PGA experience is Stephan Jaegar. The German is no stranger to the PGA Tour and memorably held his nerve to win the Texas Children’s Open last season.
Although there are bound to be nerves today, he will hope to capitalise on the lack of winning experience from those around him today and hopefully land a second PGA Tour title in the space of nine months.
The German will fancy his chances of snatching a spot in Luke Donald’s 2025 Ryder Cup team and will know that a win here will set him up nicely for the rest of the year. It will be fascinating to see how he handles the occasion.
Keegan Bradley headlines the chasing pack who are two strokes behind
Six players will start their final round facing a two stroke deficit but the headline name has to be Keegan Bradley.
Having returned from the golfing doldrums in recent seasons, the former U.S. PGA Champion is hoping to create history this season by becoming the first playing Captain in Ryder Cup history.
Knowing that he will need to finish inside the top six automatic places to have any chance of doing so, Bradley’s dreams of creating history could receive a significant boost if he is to win this weekend.
A player who knows this course and tournament so well, he finished second in this event twelve months ago and would dearly love to go one place better today.
Another man hopeful of bursting onto the Ryder Cup scene is former Open Champion, Brian Harman. Ever since that glorious day at Hoylake, it’s been a case of Harman slowly coming back down to Earth and after having missed the 2024 Tour Championship, the man from Georgia will be desperate to return to the upper echelons of the game.
Usually one of the most consistent players on Tour, that consistency deserted him last year but it seems to have reappeared during the first three rounds. Having made just one bogey all week, Harman is giving himself plenty of opportunities to shoot a really low score.
If he can continue to play this well but get the putts to drop, he could be the best value play of the day.
Jack Hartman
A keen golfer and huge fan of the game, Jack has been covering golf for the last five years. Bringing you all the latest coverage and news from the PGA, LIV, LPGA and DP World Tours, never before has golf been so popular and Jack can’t wait to bring all the excitement to his readers.
