Daily Wrap-up: Round 3, Sony Open in Hawaii

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HONOLULU -- Matt Every had a hard time sleeping on the lead going into the weekend at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He managed a 2-under 68 on Saturday, and goes into the final round tied with 47-year-old Jeff Maggert with a lot more at stake.

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Maggert played bogey-free in relatively calm conditions at Waialae, making an eagle on the easy par-5 ninth for the second straight day, and shot a 64 to give himself a chance to win for the first time in nearly six years.

They were at 12-under 198, two shots clear, but with more than a dozen players still in the hunt in the first full-field event of the PGA TOUR's FedExCup season.

Charles Howell III, who has had five finishes in the top five at the Sony Open, gave himself another opportunity with a 66. He was in the group at 10-under 200. Pebble Beach winner D.A. Points shot 64 and was another shot back, while the large group at 8-under 202 included Steve Stricker, trying to join Ernie Els in 203 as the only players to sweep the Hawaii events.

The surprise was Maggert.

Not only is he closing in on the 50-and-older Champions Tour, he finally took care of a bone spur in his right shoulder that has been bothering him the last few years. Maggert had surgery in June and had a medical exemption for part of this year, but he went to q-school for a backup plan.

It worked. He made it through q-school for a little more security, and then built more momentum with a solid day. He had to scramble for par on the opening hole, and the rest of the day felt easy.

Projected points

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Every felt the nerves of protecting a two-shot lead in the third round, and said one reason he had trouble sleeping was that he had a lot to lose.

He went long of the green at No. 2 to make bogey, and his round was close to getting away from him. His approach on the third hole flirted with the water down the left side and barely was safe. He chipped to 8 feet and made par.

"If I miss that -- 2 over after three -- and then the next thing you know, I could have made another bogey and then it's just kind of survival mode," he said.

But he steadied himself quickly, helped by a 30-foot birdie putt on the eighth and a two-putt birdie on the ninth that allowed him to regain control.

What he couldn't control was Maggert, who is starting to feel healthy again. Along with the shoulder, Maggert says he hasn't felt right since he broke a rib early in 2007 during a snow skiing trip -- but the injury didn't happen on the slopes.

"It was afterwards, coming out of the grocery store," he said. "True story. Tripped on the ice and fell and broke my rib on the curb."

The timing couldn't have been worse. Maggert had won the FedEx St. Jude Classic in 2006 and was on the ski trip before going to Maui for the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. He tried to play through the pain, and thinks it affected the technique in his swing.

"I feel like it's a lot better than it has been," he said.

The leaderboard is so bunched that Duffy Waldorf was walking up to the ninth green and saw that he was tied for 40th. He also noticed that he was only five shots out of the lead.

"It's such a good bunching of players, it was like, `Well, if I go make some more birdies, I might get back in it.' And that's what happened on the back side," he said.

Waldorf shot 31 on the back for a 66, and goes into the final day only three shots behind.

DIVOTS: Erik Compton made a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole for a 70. Turns out he needed that to make the 54-hole cut on the number. The day before, he went birdie-eagle to make the 36-hole cut. ... Webb Simpson has not finished out of the top 10 since last year's TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola. He goes into the final round in a tie for 61st. ... The par-5 ninth played to an average score of 4.15. It has yielded 38 eagles this week.

Waialae: Round 3

EASIEST HOLE TOUGHEST HOLE The par-5 9th hole was the easiest with a Saturday scoring average of 4.150. EAGLES: 6 BIRDIES: 57 PARS: 16 BOGEYS: 1 OTHERS: 0 The par-4 1st hole was the toughest with a Saturday scoring average of 4.300. EAGLES: 0 BIRDIES: 4 PARS: 53 BOGEYS: 19 OTHERS: 4

About the leaders

• Jeff Maggert, making his 547th start on the PGA TOUR, posted a 6-under 64 on Saturday to move to 12-under 198 and earn a share of the 54-hole lead with Matt Every (68). • The 64 is Maggerts best round since an 8-under 62 in the second round of the 2011 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (finished T29). • The last of Maggerts three TOUR wins came at the 2006 FedEx St. Jude Classic. • Maggert, a 47-year-old native of Columbia, Mo., is making his 21st start at the Sony Open in Hawaii, with a T2 in 1999 the best of his five top-10 finishes. • Matt Every followed up a bogey-free 6-under 64 with a third-round 2-under 68. At 12-under, hell enter the final round tied with Jeff Maggert. • This is the first time that Every has carried the lead into the final round on the PGA TOUR. His previous best standing heading into the final round was T3 at the 2010 Waste Management Phoenix Open. • Everys 198 is the best first 54-hole score of his PGA TOUR career, topping the 201 he posted through three rounds of the 2010 Waste Management Phoenix Open (finished T8). • Every finished No. 18 on the 2011 Nationwide Tour money list. • Matt Every played in the final group at the 2010 Waste Management Open with Brandt Snedeker and Scott Piercy. He trailed Snedeker by two and Piercy by one before a final-round 72 left him T8.